Popular Science Monthly 1917-10: Vol 91 Iss 4

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“Not the name of a thing, but the mark of a service” MAZDA Service, a systematic re- search for mak- ing lamps more economical THE MEANING OF MAZDA—MAZDA is the trademark of a world-wide service to certain lamp manufacturers. Its purpose is to collect and select scientific and practical information concerning pro- se and developments in the art of incandescent amp manufacturing and to distribute this informa- tion tothe companies entitled to receive this Service. MAZDA Service is centered in the Research Laboratories of the General Electric Company at Schenectady. The mark MAZDA can appear onl on lamps which meet the standards oF MAZD. Service. It is thus an assurance of quality. This trademark is the property of the General Electric RESEARCH LABORATORIES GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY OF Company.

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a Popular .Science Monthly at the Front comet scm Have you a brother, son or friend going to the front or to training camp? Make him happy by sending him a good magazine PopuLaR SCIENCE Monrtuiy will give him all the new ideas in me- chanics and science. He will learn all the new war developments in’ airplanes, submarines, destroyers, machine guns and tanks. What magazine will be more eagerly read by the boy at the front? How to Send Popular Science Monthly Uncle Sam makes no extra charge for delivering magazines to our soldiers and sailors at thefront. You can send PopuLaR SCIENCE Monruty at the regular rates:— For one year....... $1.50 For six months.,.... 75 For three months.. .40 Send us the name and complete designation of his division, regi- ment, company and organization —like this: Arthur J. Nichols, Company X, Infantry, American Expeditionary Forces. Popular Science Monthly, 239 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y.

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Aimed and Fired by Mechanism : a ~ é 9 e ; th: \ The machine gun is nearing the zenith of its perfection: The coming weapon will be mechanically aimed, controlled and fired from a distance so that the crew may crouch in their dug-out, observe the foe through a periscope, and fire without exposing anything but a nerveless, fleshless mechanism of steel 482

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| ~~ ——— + ee a a a | Popular Science Monthly 239 Fourth Avenue, New York City October, 1917 see Vol. 91 No. 4 Is This the Machine-Gun of the Future? The men are concealed and the trigger is pulled by machine; the barrel is cooled like an automobile engine; the ammunition supply is continuous By Edward M seco guns talk in stutters— staccato stutters. They can fire at the rate of six hundred shots per minute, but they can’t keep up the pace. Part of this failure is due to the fact that the ammunition containers are limited in capacity, part is due to the fact that the very first rattle of shots jars the gun off the mark, unless the mark be a very large one. The gun must be “relaid,”’ before fire is resumed. Also, there is the fact that a continuous fire in any sort of machine-gun, water-cooled or air-cooled, would ruin the bore. The great heat of powder gases (more than four thousand degrees) results in a washing away of the steel of the barrel in short order when the fire is continuous enough. The chief reason, however, for this break in fire continuity is the necessity for re-aiming the gun every twenty or thirty shots unless the mark is practically unmissable. What the machine-gun could use very nicely are these little things: A mount with possibly a recoil absorbing mechanism to pre- vent the gun from jarring off the mark; a better cooling system than the ones now used — in which the water boils away and the air doesn’t cool; a device for continuous fire for certain conditions; me- chanical control of the firing, the feeding, the ele- vating, and the traversing The belt-loader on this machine-gun is operated by power from the motorcycle on which it is mounted 483 C. Crossman mechanism of the gun, so that the crew can operate it in safety, from a distance. There comes now an inventor with the significant name of Ford—not Henry, how- ever—with some startling improvements for the machine-gun. The first one is a mechanically operated loading machine to keep the belt of the gun filled all the time, regardless of its speed of fire and the duration thereof. The belt-loader is operated by the power of the machine on which the gun is mounted, this to be motorcycle, motor-tricycle, automo- bile, airplane or other power vehicle. The second is a circulating water-cooling system, @ /a automobile, in which the water passes from the jacket around the gun- barrel to a regular automobile radiator, which in turn is cooled by a fan driven by the power that operates the loading mechanism and which in turn is merely the power plant of the car. A centrifugal pump makes the water move, although it would surely thermo-siphon hur- riedly if this system were used instead of the pump. The third startler is the fact that the gun is de- signed to be an integral part of its car- riage, which isa gas engine pro- pelled vehicle. Perhaps thisidea was borrowed from the fight- ing airplane, in which the ma- chine gun is rig- idly mounted to fire through the propeller.

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484 ISPING and Popular Science Monthly If You Lisp or Stammer Train Your- self with a Mirror or a Candle graphic plate only one such impression, or image, can be obtained. With the motion picture film, however, a fresh piece of film is continually ex. stammering [ff are separate imper- fections of speech which require en- tirely different treatment. Lispers, for in- stance, can be cured in a short time by tongue and palate gymnastics. They “lithp” simply be- cause they do not work their tongue and palate proper- ly. By making the child. speak before a mirror, however, the teacher can correct these mistakes. Stammering is a nervous disorder which cannot be cured so easily. The pupil involuntarily applies too much force at certain parts ' of the vocal organs, caus- ing the stuttering and a sputtering with which we allare familiar. Thecureis to relieve the over-worked parts by distributing the energy evenly. This is learned by pronouncing certain flowing sounds in front of a candle until the flame does not flicker. The Original Motion Picture Film— It Is in the Human Eye HAT the human eye and the photo- graphic lens are very much alike in design and operation is a well known fact. If you look through a photographic lens you will see nothing clearly. perceive the image a piece of ground glass or a plate of film is necessary. A plate is a piece of plain glass which acts as a support for an emulsion. decomposes when struck by light, and the decomposition is made visible ‘by a process called develop- ment. With an ordinary photo- This emulsion Above: Practising breath control with a candle flame. Below: Tongue and palate gymnastics before a mirror posed to the lens, Just such an ar- rangement exists in the human eye. An emulsion called vis- ual purple acts as a film of great lati- tude, renewing it- self as soon as it is struck by the light and discolored. It adapts itself to various intensities of light, protecting the retina from too brilliant a glare at all times. A Self-Inflicted Tug- of-War to Increase Your Height O increase the height by a stretching pro- cess, to vivify the spine and stimulate the nerves— these are the purposes of an odd machine known as the pandiculator, invented by a chiropractic specialist for use in the practice of that method of treatment. The apparatus is simple, consisting of a couch with a headpiece and a foot rest that can be extended by the operation of a cog and ratchet device at the side. The person who wishes to increase his or her height is fastened in the machine and the stretching is done by turning the ratchet. It is extremely doubtful if the machine illustrated could do more than exercise the neck and abdominal muscles. After you are strapped in the machine you stretch yourself as strenuously as you like by pulling the ratchet device at the side

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ss eee SS rr. CF Qe On ee VS ee ere Se @ Fiber Containers Take the Place of Tin Cans for Preserved Foods IN is scarce. Imports have decreased, due to reduced production and poorer shipping facilities. ‘‘Ready-to-eat” foods are prepared in the containers; hence they require tin cans. — Many foods, like ripe olives, jams, and spices, can be packed as well in glass jars. But the price of glass is steadily rising. To conserve glass and tin, containers of fiber or paper are being made in increas- ingly large quantities. They come in various sizes and shapes adapted to differ- ent uses. Most of them are coated with paraffin, which prevents leakage and helps to make the container airtight and to keep it board-stiff. Fiber containers can be recommended for cream, oysters, syrups, dried fruits, jellies, mincemeat, horseradish, pickles, deviled ham, chicken, vinegar, mustard, sauer- kraut and olives. The Umbrella Hat—It Was Invented Years Ago by an American HE umbrella hat is not a recent inven- i tion, but was familiar years ago to the residents of Seattle, as the particular head- gear of Robert W. Patten. He was a picturesque figure on the city streets, and he always wore the hat which he invented while mining in Mexico. The hat is mounted on a frame which fits closely around the head and branches out in ribs like those of an umbrella. Originally, netting was draped around it to keep off the mosquitoes. The umbrella portion could be tilted fo any angle. Although not as wide as an ordinary umbrella, when used with an all- enveloping rain-coat, the umbrella hat keeps off the rain as well as if it were larger. The idea has been adopted in a modified de- gree by farmers. Popular Science M onthly The umbrella hat can be tilted at any angle to keep off the sun With this combination knife and fork a wounded man can cut and eat his food without assistance _ A Combination Knife and Fork for the Wounded "LVEN the ordinary tableware is under- going changes and improvements to meet the needs of the soldiers who have been wounded. The accompanying illus- tration shows a combination knife and fork which will enable a man to eat in comfort without hav- ing to call on some one else to cut up his food. The knife blade is equip- ped with a bone handle at one end, and at the other it curves up and around and ends in four prongs like those of an ordinary fork. The usefulness of the knife for the purpose is evident. Below the prongs is a broad flat portion slightly dented in, to prevent the food from slipping off. This also serves as a spoon, so that in reality the implement is a combina- tion of knife, fork and spoon. It may be used for everything but soup. _The November issue of Popular Science Monthly will be on sale on all newsstands, Wednesday, October tenth (West of the Rocky Mountains, October twentieth). TESTI A ae oe naan oa Se SR EA

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The Makeshift Refrigerators of the Fighters r t A refrigerator for one of the Na- tional Guard units camped in the East. It is a hand-made affair, constructed of boards and divided into three roomy compartments in which food of all descriptions is stored. The ice is kept in the lower section—when there is any icé. The interior is lined with odds and ends of sheet metal A knapsack refrigerator for the soldier to carry on his back. The cold com- partment is lined with sheet metal and water cools the contents on the evaporation principle. It is not as heavy as it looks, being made of light weight material. The articles car- ried in it are such as can be soon disposed of The army “water cow,” used by National Guardsmen in New York. The bag is first soaked in water and then filled with water. The sun and wind do the rest by starting evaporation

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“0 Training a Horse for One of the Finest Ser- vices in the World—The New York Mounted Police Teaching a.- re- cruit in the busi- ness of stopping arunaway. The policeman’s mount must run even faster than the frightened animal in order to head him off Photos © Int. Film Serv. Only men who show a marked aptitude for riding and only horses which respond readily to the rigid course of training, are accepted for the mounted divi- sion. This one is a bit unruly Throwing a horse so that a veterinary may work on its feet end legs. The rope is attached to one front and one rear foot, and passed through a ring in the surcingle

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An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a (\Pound of Cure Photos © Int. Film Serv. Above: Each anchor weighs a ton. A wheeled lever-hoist is necessary to lift the “sinkers’— as they are called by the sailcrs Securing the bell anchors to the bottom cables . In oval above: Spreading the net. The mesh- . Of the nets to be used as submarine protection es are very fine and are arranged ten feet apart 488

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The Anti-Submarine Nets Our Tars Are Making © Photos Int. Fiim Serv. Above: Having been shipped on giant spools, the nets are ready to be rolled upon the barges which will carry them out to sea Two members of the Naval Reserve clamping the mesh joints together, the completion of the first stage of net work Barrels and tanks which will buoy up the finished nets at some strategic point. In the foreground are seen the anchors

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If All the Allies’ Army Blankets Were Rolled Together, End to End! Imagine yourself slowly running your eyes up the four hundred and fifty-one feet of the great Khufu pyramid in Egypt. Do not stop at the top, but picture if you can, seven more pyramids of equal height placed one upon the other above the real one. In back of these imagine a great roll of wool and cotton whose prodigious diameter stretches from the ground to the peak of the top- most pyramid. Your mental picture will be like this one, and it will represent the miles of blankets that have been used in the equipment of the Allied armies from the beginning of the war until our entrance into it. And this enormous amount of material is only one item of the equipment! Such comparisons are useful in bringing home to the lay mind some idea of the total cost of the war in dollars and cents as well as in the consumption of products and the output of factories 490

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What It Means to Feed, Shoe and Clothe: the Armies of the Allies The food that was trans- ported during the first thirty months of the war } to the Allies’ would fill six lines of fteight cars, stretching from the State of Washington to Florida Our first equipment order was for four million two hundred thousand pairs of shoes. If a pair could be made that number of times the size of the ordinary pair, it could ‘“‘press under foot” all Germany and Austria Up to April of this year, the Allies had used up six hundred and thirty-three million yards of cloth in the making of their shirts and uni- forms. Such a strip could encircle the earth fifteen times, covering about 375,000 miles

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D vo S a S hound

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Indian Art Is Not Limited to Basketry , The Indians of South America are so intermixed with the Spanish and other Europeans that there are few “| ~ true totype. But in the mountain regions there are many reminders of the primitive tribes. At left is shown a group of images of Colombian peasants carved from Seiba wood. ‘These little figures are made in great quantities by is the young girls of e Bogota, Colombia. They are very ac- curate in details of costume and expres- sion. ‘Types such as these are com- mon among the tribes in portions oe of the upper Andes Photos @ Brown and Dawson Ws bien, PPS as The South American Indians i j are adept at makin pictures out of feathers. Above is + aon a bird scene fashioned entirely from feathers of tropical birds. It represents twelve days’ steady work ee ee ee ee ee At left: Statue of a Colombian peasant woman. It is molded from a peculiarly hard wax which does not melt even in the tropical heat. The costume— even the cigar—is typical of the Chibcha Indians 493

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Painting a life-like model of a snake— not for exhibition in a museum but for illustrating the many foods we don’t touch. Shall we ever eat snakes? Once upon a time ox-tails and calves’ feet were considered useless \ Above are some unutilized foods of our seashore —dulse, kelp, mussels, squid, sand collar snail. Ever eat any of them? If they tasted good rec- ommend them This artist of the kitchen makes pleasing pictures of real fruit framed in baking tins 494 Food—Food—Everywhere If We Would Only Eat ‘Photos © Press Illus. Serv. Can a man be well fed on twenty-five cents a day? Above are three tables set for breakfast, luncheon and dinner at a total cost of twen- ty-five cents

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Dolling Up Your Ford A mirror carefully A. choke coil which gives a adjusted like the good strong illumination at one at the side of seven miles an hour without this car will pre- burning out the lights when vent rear collisions going at twenty-five miles longs. > Rabe aaah t Below: Rubber foot pedals are easy on the shoes and sometimes prevent your foot slipping when you apply the brakes quickly. They are said to reduce _— vibration Hand guards for doors eliminate ugly spots on the woodwork and break up the straight line at the side of the car OWN Rubber running boards are very convenient — at fifteen dollars a pair, thank you. But they wear well and are very ‘easily kept clean Here we have one of the few men who know where every Ford accessory be- He is showing you a decoy in- strument board to humiliate your pocketbook, and a new- fangled automatic gage de- vice for the gasoline tank A good shock absorber which prevents you from bouncing out of the car when it strikes a partic- ularly resistant obstacle. It is probebly the sim- plest device for the pur- pose on the market Ran TER, SHE RD wo HE

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RESO Sea EME LIEBE ED Be ede Tit Aaa Reeth Sali tee r Dolling Up Your Ford Every carbureter is better than the Ford one—so the papers say. This one gives 37 miles on a gallon and revels in kerosene Arunabout with $311.50 worth of accessories on it. It runs. under its own power! At right: A slip to go between the windshield and the top, to prevent drafts from sailing down The Ford radiator cap is too typically Ford, and burns the hands at times. Better replace it with a cap of this type The robe rail costs from seventy-five cents to $1.35 and it keeps the interior of the car neat the necks of folks in the tonneau A set of gears for the driveshaft. It gives four speeds forward, a lower high gear than the Ford high and a lower low than the Ford low The demountable rim graft —a pound of weight below the springs is as bad, on tires as four pounds above

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“Count Every Shot and Make Every Shot Count,”: Photos © Brown and Dawson. Loading one of our ccast defense guns. Coast artillery is charged with protecting places of great strategic or commercial im- portance against naval attacks At left: The breech of the big gun thrown open to receive a shell, several of which are mounted on trucks specially pro- vided for that particular work

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Is the Order Given to the Coast Artilleryman SSL Naa a a" « WWE WW WY SSS \ S I SWRA NOMA SSS SX ace ” e ~ a * 4 ee : . ‘pen tam v Ge 7 {¥% ea A big gun at the moment of firing. It has been elevated into position before firing, and immediately afterward it falls back out of sight on its supporting members. The two-ton shell it has hurled off into space can penetrate the thickest armor of any battleship that may dare to poke its nose within a dozen miles of our coast —EE “Tactics change every ten years,” said Napoleon. Before the war our coast artillery was practising at ten thousand yards; now the range has developed into twenty thousand yards and more. The energy neces- sary to fire a shot from the gun in the picture con- tinued from the preceding page would project your two-ton automobile . twenty-seven miles -:.- ) in less than twice as many seconds

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We Building the Foundation for'a Wasp Empire

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The First Stage in the Life of a Wasp larvee are fed on honey and These q ickly hatch out and the each. st nes 1s Constr u e cells and lays an egg spring. t six-sided XX SS © Brown and Dawson 7 einaetaaiaiaraiiaias SOHN RX ASIST the ‘first. days of six fashions Queen in the act of layi i : ying an egg in a newly constructed cell. The nest of thi = > usually found suspended under the overhanging reofs of ididines. The main in the cells until they reach the “pupa” stage. Then the cell is sealed up with the pupa inside. It evolves finally as a young wasp or “worker” ing 5M]

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Three Stages of Growth in a Wasp Colony The front of a wasp’s nest is seen at the left. The nest has grown to an empire, many broods having been raised and each in turn having la- bored to increase the colony. In each of the cells the face of a young wasp almost developed peers out Below are shown cells of the wasp’s nest, cut open to reveal the eggs as deposited by the Queen. The cells of a nest are not alfowed to remain idle; as soon as cne wasp emerges, the cell is cleaned out for another egg. The young wasps are the workers © Brown and Dawson Section of a wasp’s nest showing on the left a young wasp still in the feeding stage, and on the right a wasp that is nearly ready to issue into the world and take up the work of the empire. In the fall the nest grows to great proportions. At length the old Queen dies, and the young wasps fly away from the home

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SERRE A A Rg PAS 2 ERG aa IRAN YG ORL ERS zs ns Choosing Your Suit of Air A problem in scientific ventilation and how it is being solved by some interesting experiments By George T. Palmer Chief of Investigating Staff, New York State Commission on Ventilation Arrangements for measuring and distributing the flow of air in aschoolroom. The room seems to be free from air-consumers, but it is not. Under the conical hoods are lighted candles which give off heat and use up oxygen at about the same rate as an equal number of pupils important as a serviceable suit of clothes. A “suit of air’ is not imaginary. Itisa fact. Our bodies are entirely surrounded by air. Out of doors we can make the air fit us pretty well by taking off or putting on more clothes, or by moving about if neces- sary to keep warm. Indoors, however, we have not so many privileges. _ This finding of the propery suit of air does not sound so difficult; for we are familiar with electric desk fans in summer and large ventilating blower fans in winter which blow large volumes of air through an entire building. But if the problem were simple our workshops and places of amusement would not have air that makes us feel bad. The New York State Commission on Ventilation is engaged in studying this A PROPER “suit of air’ is just as 503 problem of ill-fitting air-suits. The funds to support the work are given by the New York Association for Improving the Condi- tion of the Poor. This Commission believes that the way to improve on the ventilation of our buildings is to find out first what good ventilation is, to find out what the human body in its different activ- ities needs. With these facts known, it is then necessary to learn how to produce the good conditions and avoid the bad. What Is Good Ventilation? The first step in finding out what is good ventilation, is to .measure the effect of different kinds of air°on people. The body is likened to a steam engine or an automobile. . The appropriate -fuel is supplied and the combustion’ of this fuel with oxygen produces energy, some - of

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504 Popular Science Monthly which appears as heat and some of which appears as. motion. The body can be thought of as an engine with steam up, with the fires constantly burning while life lasts. This fire keeps the body very close to a temperature around 98 or 99 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much above the average outdoor temperature. Now with the fire con- stantly burning, it is evi- dent that heat is con- tinually being given off. Through the lungs the gaseous products of combustion, carbon di- oxide (and along with this a good deal of oxy- gen also, for the body uses only a part of the oxygen that is breathed in), are also constantly thrown off. But the body keeps its temperature con- stant by means of a wonder- fully complicated temperature control system. The Commission set about studying the effect of the Measuring the size of the breathing spaces in the nostrils by breathing gently on a cold metal plate week and then to another. They wrote down on paper just how they felt. But their opinions on personal comfort were not sufficient. It is also desirable to know whether people can do better work under one condition than they can under another, not merely physical work, but mental work. And are they as healthy in one condition as they are in another? Is it variations in temperature that have the greatest influence on health and efficiency? Is it variations in mois- ture? Nearly four years have been spent in getting the answers to these most important questions. Over two hundred different peo- ple—men and women, col- lege students, clerks, typists, truck drivers, boiler makers, firemen, the robust and the weak, the large and the small, the clean and the unclean, have spent some portion of their time—from one day to various factors of the air on this heat eliminating, gas producing, human engine by placing people, as shown in one of the accompanying pic- tures, in a specially built ex- periment chamber, a room connected with steam coils, a refrigerating plant, moisture producing apparatus, ventil- ating fans and various other devices for altering the condi- tion of the air. The great advantage of this experiment chamber over the ordinary room is that each of the various air factors—temperature, moisture, etc.—can be controlled and varied at will. Ina crowded theater, for instance, as the air gets warmer it also gets more moist and begins to have a “‘crowd’’ odor. In the experiment chamber the temperature can be hotter while the moisture remains the same, or the moisture can be increased while keeping the temperature the same. In this way. each of these various factors can be separated and studied independently. The Commission paid people regular salaries to stay in this experiment chamber. First these people, or subjects, would be exposed to one condition for a day or a Ya % A V, i tassaant Rina theta Te th GSE { nee The overheated air in the room has caused the bone in one nostril to swell ~~ six weeks—within the experi- ment chamber. To observe and study the effects of the various air factors on these subjects the Commission has employed a corp of trained observers, —psychologists, physicians, physiologists, chemists, sanitarians, bacteri- ologists, and engineers who have recorded with scientific exactness each shade of differ- ence observed in the separate individuals. NS ~ ELE ME LE MP A AE aE ME ae N . y The Findings of the Jury of Specialists In the first place, they have found that so long as the room was kept cool, that so long as the temperature was not allowed to rise, it did not make much difference whether or not a plentiful supply of fresh air was supplied to the chamber. Even when the subjects spent a whole day and six days in succession in the unaired chamber, breathing air that con- tained the accumulated products of the breath, they did as good mental work, felt just as happy, and did as much physical work as they did when the ventilating fans were constantly changing the air. Further- ~ more, the most careful observations of the”

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sts, sts, ori- rho ific fer- als. hat hat wed nce 10le the -on- the felt sical fans her- * heart and circulation and the general condition of the body failed to show any harmful effects. The only indication of any depressing effect of breathing this confined and several times used air was that about five per cent less food was eaten. The decreased appetite was not due to any accumulation of the gas carbon di- oxide; for, when large quantities of carbon dioxide from a tank were added to the fresh air being blown into the room, the appetite was not reduced at all. It is im- probable that any poison from the breath affected the appetite, for many elaborate experiments on this point have failed to show the existence of any such poison in the human breath. It is possible that what affected the appetite adversely was a slight odor of sweaty clothes or decaying teeth, which Popular Science Monthly 505 less. In this connection it should be borne in mind that in producing even this slight effect on the appetite the accumulation of re-breathed air in this experiment chamber was from three to twelve times as great as that found in an ordinary badly ventilated schoolroom. Compare this experience as to re- breathed air with the effects produced by over-heating, even slight over-heating; that is, an increase of temperature from 68 to 75 degrees. At these temperatures, and with the subjects dressed for fall-or winter weather, the heart beats faster; the body cannot get rid of its heat as readily and the heat accumulates thereby, causing the. body temperature to rise sometimes a degree or more. The subjects feel uncom- fortably warm; they do less physical work. odors are the natural out- come of the continued oc- cupancy of an unventilated room. The above statement should be care- fully scruti- nized and re- read. This finding does not mean that fresh air is of no value. Fresh air is of the utmost value, ascan beshown by a wealth of examples. What this does imply is that the good ef- fects of fresh air are due more to one of its components —cool temperature—than to another com- ponent, chemical purity. Conversely, this finding indicates that the unrefreshened air of an occupied room whose temperature is not allowed to get too high, does not produce unfavorable effects on the mind, the comfort, or the various organs of the y. , On the other hand, that this re-breathed air, even though cool, is not entirely with- out some effect, is indicated by the fact that the subjects unconsciously ate slightly Testing the pulse and blood pressure of workers and of reclining subjects under the same air conditions One experi- ment showed 15 per cent less work done at 75 than at 68 degrees. The appetite, how- ever, remained about the same and the mental work was un- affected even by air hot enough to cause profuse perspiration and very evi- dent discom- fort. As compared with the chem- ical purity of the air, then, the variations in temperature have been found to pro- duce a very much more pronounced effect. The Nose'Is a Pretty Good Judge Now, in addition to these effects, over- heated air, or air which is warm enough to cause people, as they are dressed, to feel uncomfortably warm, also produ~es a very evident effect on the nose. There is a most peculiar spongy bone in each nostril, called the turbinate bone. This bone has the power of expanding or contracting. When it contracts so as to occupy very little space there is a wide clear passage to

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506 breathe through, but when it expands it may become large enough to close up com- pletely the breathing space in that nostril. It was found that warm air, from 80 to 90 degrees, has a tendency to make this turbinate bone expand. Warm, moist air is apparently more likely to do this than warm dry air. The man in one of the pictures is breath- ing on a cold, shiny metal plate. The moisture in his breath condenses, is turned into water droplets on the plate and makes two little im- pressions whose size gives some idea of the breathing space. The black areas of the chart show that in this case the heated air of the room caused the turbinate bone in one nostril to expand considerably more than that in the other nostril. While this appreciably lessened his breathing space he was not so oppressed by the closeness of the room as he would have been if both nostrils had been affected to the same extent. This fact is of importance because this swollen or congested condition of the turbinates and adjoining membrane, accompanied as it is by increased secretion, has a good deal to do with catching of colds. The physical sensation resulting is like that of a cold in the head. ; Why Even Warm Winds Are Cooling The reader may be tempted to inquire why, if heat has such a pronounced effect on the body, we are not all sick in the summer time. The answer is that we are not all sick in the hot summer weather simply because we have means of keeping our bodies cool—as cool or actually cooler than when indoors in the winter time. In the first place the body produces less heat in summer: In the second place, we wear lighter weight clothing in summer. By reason of the excessively high tem: perature of the air about us in summer— 80 to 100 degrees—our bodies are caused to perspire much more freely than is the case in an atmosphere of 70 degrees indoors This man’s body is exposed to the temperature of one room and his head to that of another. He is breath- ing the air from the first room. The temperature of his head is being taken with an attached thermometer. The experiment determines exactly which part of the body is most af- fected by changes of temperature Popular Science Monthly in the winter. Our clothing becomes dam on absorbing this moisture from the skin, Now, when a current of air passes over a damp cloth it takes moisture away from the cloth—or causes water to evaporate from the cloth. Heat is used up in converting water or moisture into water vapor. Place a damp cloth on the bulb of an ordinary thermom. eter—the cloth need not be cold—and_ expose this to a breeze. Yoy will observe that the thermometer imme- diately indicates a lower temperature. This is just what happens to the body, When a breeze—even —blows across damp skin or damp clothes it extracts heat. The body is exposed more frequently to breezes in the summer; for we are out of doors more and even when indoors we have the windows wide open. This outdoor air is only very slightly purer chemically than the cool indoor air of winter. It is the cooling effect—not, however, cool | enough to be chilling—which constitutes | The ventilating engineer has | refreshment. got to know the causes of ‘‘freshness.” Determining whether a student can do bet- ter mental work in a cool or a warm room though it bea hot breeze | cia {ae neat SO RO OR HP FT

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damp | skin, ver a from orate up in isture act a bulb mom- d not X Pose You it the mme- eS a Ire, what body, even reeze © 0 skin tracts posed “OOZES e are even e the This very ically uir of roling cool itutes r has 9 Popular Science Monthly . What a Life of Cap- ‘tivity Does to the Lion “OME interesting facts have been revealed from a study showing the differences between wild- killed lions and those which had died in the National Zoological Park in Wash- ington. It was found that captivity changes the nor- mal buff color of the lion to:a darker color, the color deepening for each succes- sive moult for five years at least. Lions captured young and reared in cap- tivity had muscles little developed, and as a result their skulls showed a mark- ed difference from those of wild-killed lions. This was due, say the investigators, to the fact that the skulls of lions are greatly influenced by muscular activity. Using muscles develops them; and disuse de- stroys. Absorbent? IRE material 4 ar : A Stylish New Blanket-Coat for the Baby Lamb HE greatest obstacle which stands in the way of providing very young or new-born lamibs with artificial coats or blankets to protect them from sudden changes in temperature or from storms until their own coats are heavy enough to serve the purpose, is the fact that the covering material is likely to de- stroy. the lamb odor by which the mother recog- nizes her offspring. The blanket shown in the illustration leaves enough of the lamb’s neck and body exposed to satisfy the mother as to the lamb’s identity, and at the same time’ covers the vital por- tions of the body snugly. It is composed of a water- proof outer canvas, with a soft woolen lining. Four elastic loops fasten it on. Firing pin jaw 1 gages base The blanket is made of waterproof outer canvas lined with soft woolen material The centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the shell spreads the flaming gasoline in all directions Cartridge Firing Shells Charged with Gasoline Which Ignites on Impact 4-Conical recess en- of torch Ih their great attack upon Messines Ridge, the British brought into play a new weapon, the inflammable shell. “We didn’t use gas in the attack,”’ said one correspondent, “‘but every known form of offensive weapon I think we did supply, including a new horror known in the army as ‘oil cans,’ or ‘boiling oil.” These on concussion burst and scattered conflagration over a wide area. We know from the prisoners taken that they caused terror and did an immense amount of harm.”’ Light on the nature of these flaming projectiles is given by an American patent which was issued to Henry Dean, of Michigan, early in the war. A cham- ber containing high-ex- plosive powder is situ- ated in back of the solid nose of the shell and right in front of the firing torch. Sur- rounding this highly- inflammable torch is the charge of gasoline which takes up by far the ’ greatest portion of the interior of the projectile. Thus,when the nose of the shell strikes against the trench wall,the concussion sets off the gunpowder.

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New Jobs for the Motor-Truck and New { How strong is a truck? Here is one that pulled a 154-ton railway engine A cleaner for the wind- shield which The moving ball in this cleans both L— spark plug the top and An old wood elevator and its frame- prevents ac- bottom glass work serve as an improvised garage cumulation of carbon a ome Wong iG tls tote ne A asi ata Even on a wet, slippery street, this four-wheel motor-truck was able to pull a disabled twenty-five- ton trolley car up a hill with a twefity per cent grade. The passengers preferred to walk 508 |

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‘Additions to the List of Accessories i ; ‘At left: A portable electric valve grinder fitted with a motor- driven drill tool one Neg TTTTLE al Co ES see An automobile railway in Porto Rico. Flanged wheels take the place of tires An automobile glove with “wings” to take in coat sleeve and keep it clean Attached to the rae diator cap, this small fan revolved by the wind keeps the water cool At left: Steel skids to ele- vate an auto- mobile, sup- plant the re- pair pit Flags which spin around like a_ pin wheel are mounted on the radiator This demounting device is a flanged sleeve over the hub

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Work for Motor-Trucks © A motor ambulance which carries four stretchers, a medi- cine cabinet, and a re- serve supply of gaseline The army kitchen motorized. It was pre- sented to New York National Guardsmen Above: A wind shield Below: The heat of glare dimmer which this vulcanizer is fur- consists of-a circular nished by a combust- piece of ible disk ‘colored in a metal glass container ] Utilizing the hollow space in the center of stored tires for a tool chest This repairshop automobile derrick which is made of light angle-irons will lift three tons - FLEE Le eS

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New Tools for the Automobile Repairman Doing a locomotive’s work. The automobile pulls two freight cars with loads of from two to twelve tons At left: A new cork insert Ford fan belt At right: Motor- cycle padlock locks the rear driving sprocket to the car frame A_ trouble light with. a flexible handle . for i A new gas saver increases the speed of the car and prevents the formation of carbon carrying it into the The method of driving a new wire hard-to-. wheel is by means of six powerful drive reach places studs on inner drive flange of hub 511 The latest oddity in motorcycles— the motor is located in front, and direct drive is obtained by friction

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‘Turning a Carin Its Own Length It As a mere matter of lifting it and swinging it around on its rear wheels tially solved by the adoption of the device illustrated, which enables a car to turn around in its own length. It consists of a small wheel carried cross- wise of the car between the front of the motor and the 6 i parking problem would be par-

permits the gas to force the oil in the system through a pipe leading to the tops of the | two vertical cylinders carrying the lifting wheel. A further movement of the lever to | the right or left opens two valves into two additional pipes leading to the bottoms of

radiator. This wheei is mounted on two pistons which may be forced down in vertical cylinders by means of a fluid under pres- sure from the en- gine cylinders until it contacts with the ground.

<7

A further down- ward movement of the pistons raises the front wheels of the car clear off the ground. The operation of lift- ing and turning a car is controlled from a lever mounted in a small case in the driver’s cab. One \ double-ended pipe is \ / / screwed into the combus- eC .. tion chambers of two of rt iy the engine cylinders and then led to a double piston valve in the control case. This piping serves to carry a small amount of the compressed cylinder gases to the piston- valve, by the manipulation of which the oil in the two vertical cylinders carrying the small lifting wheel on their piston rods is put under. pressure. Check valves are placed in the line outside of each cylinder so that the oil cannot back up into the engine on the suction strokes. The control cylinder in which the double piston valve reciprocates is normally open to the atmosphere so that the gas under pressure from the cylinders may escape when the device is not in operation. backward movement of the control lever shuts off the opening to the atmosphere and ~ v9 ‘

The small wheel carried crosswise of the car between the front of the motor and the radiator is mounted on two pistons by which the front wheels are raised

\ ‘ - ‘ 4 Ze == = With the rear wheels as an axis, the car can be turned completely around in a space equal to its own length in its ow Valve control lever P ay = Sr SS Jo ee flow the cylinders, When the pistons have moved | down to their extreme bottom’ positions and the front wheels of the car are lifted clear, the ends of the pipes leading | to the bottom of | left or right | cylinder, accord- | ing to the way the lever is moved, come op- posite ports in | the hollow piston rods | and permit the oil to down pump on the wheel and turn it one way or the other: through gearing, © The fluid under’ pressure | escapes down the hollow piston rods to the gear pump integral with the into the | small wheel, so that. the small wheel is revolved to right or left. the car is turned com- In this way pletely round, end for end, n length. The car is lowered to the ground in the reverse manner. Check, valve Cylinder ra B

wheel

Pipe to rotary motors Reve A

The: lifting and turning operation is controlled-from a single lever mount- ed in “a ‘small case in the driver’s cab 12

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7stem f the © ifting | ver to © 9 two | ms of ders. istons ved | their | ottom’ | id the Is of lifted nds of ading om of right | ccord- © > Way r 2 ne op- ‘ts in 1 rods oil to > the el and | or the -aring. essure | hollow . gear h_ the it the ved to is Way com- or end, red to lanner. Popular Science Monthly Can the Baby When You Take a Journey HE good news is true. We have been hoping for years that some in- telligent inventor would come along ‘ with a device to net eS can obstreperous’ 4 infants during the a Ox i. late hours of the ft. night. We sug- ‘ gested a hermeti- cally-sealed can wrapped in sound-proof ma- terial, but Caleb M. Prather, of Evanston, I1li- nois, who is the inventor of the can illustrated, sidestepped our instructions at several important points. He intends to use the can to rock babies tosleep. It is, in fact,a baby holder. Our can was to be a baby holder and silencer combined. Mr. Prather has provided sev- eral holes in his can through which air can reach the baby. We don’t object to the baby getting air but as long as there are holes in the can the baby’s yells will be as nerve-wracking as ever. . That was our reason for the In this holder the baby sits when awake or lies when asleep on the trip £ ae te “s Ad 513 Will the Shell Burst When It Is Fired? A Water Test Tells PROJECTILE fired from a gun is subjected to enormous strains which it must be strong ae enough to with- =— stand; otherwise } ah it might be as dangerous to the gun crew. as to the enemy. -To ‘assure. safety -as well as destruc- tiveness, the steel from which the shells are made is subjected to different tests. Not only this but further examination is customarily made on what are known as test shells. Some of these test shells are actually fired in the testing grounds; others are cut up and the pieces. subjected to various strains which must be successfully resisted. Since this can’t be done to every shell, the shells used are picked at random, it being assumed that they typify the lot. The probabilities are that this would be so, but it is better to supply a simple pressure test required for some of the French shells. This French pres- hermetically-sealed can. A cover of the can is fastened by a button, and a seat is provided upon which the baby can sit and suck his thumb when the top and cover have been re- moved. Thecanis of steel and it can be fastened to the rail of a porch, the back of a chair, or the seat of a rail- road car. If the inventor will make his can air-tight and sound-proof— features which we originally suggested —we know of a bachelor who will sure test consists. simply of fillingeach shell with water and then subjecting it to a strong water pressure for about thirty seconds. If the shells are weak, they will either burst under the strain or a_per- manent expansion will take place. On the other hand, if the shells do not collapse and no per- manent expansion takes place, the shells must be satis- factory so far as their strength is concerned. This is conclusive evidence which can be se- buy a half dozen right away. Shells filled with water are subjected to a strong water pressure test for thirty seconds cured for each shell with little trouble. . ———~— a IS SSS Ta

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RDERING a meal at a fashionable 6) restaurant or hotel is simple enough— to the diner. But it is safe to say that few. have any idea of what goes on behind the scenes, that is, in the kitchens, after the order has been given to the waiter. As a matter of fact, giving one’s order of, say, oysters, soup, fish, steak, salad, dessert and coffee starts a most intricate process. ‘In the first place, your waiter cannot give your entire order to one cook; he must go to as many different men as there are dishes on your order. First he stops at the oyster booth, where two or three men do nothing but open oysters. Then he goes to the soup cooks, of whom there may be six or eight; next, to the cooks who look after the fish, and so on to others who are specialists in the preparation of steaks, vegetables, salads, desserts and coffee. In the average large restaurant there are from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty cooks, all of whom, with the exception of girls who prepare the salads and vegetables, are men. In addi- tion, there are the chef and his staff of assistants, who may number half a dozen and whose duties are to oversee the work of the others rather than to cook. When your waiter has given your full order he returns to the oyster:booth, gets your blue points and takes them to you. On his way out the oysters pass under the eyes of no less than five differ- ent checkers. While you are eating your oys- ters, the waiter goes ‘back after your soup, which must also receive the approval of the five checkers. x. The same process -guafiscener * takes place in connection with eachdish brought out, which means that your waiter, who seems so de- liberate, does considerable Mas From Soup to Nuts ‘“‘Who’s who” behind the scenes in a big hotel or restaurant kitchen

Checking up the food on histray. The waiter has to pay for each item in chips out of his own pocket 514

It only takes a word to order a dish, but it takes a whole organization to serve it. You may rave at the waiter for being slow but while he is out of your sight he is hust- _ling from cook to cook with lightning speed hustling during the serving of your meal. The huge range, from forty to sixty feet long, is given over to the frying of different kinds of food. It also contains the ovens; the broilers are separate. The steward is an important personage in any large restaurant, and commands a large saiary. He must not only know what people like to eat, but he must have statistics to show about how many people will order each item on‘the bill of fare: The preparation ofa bill, important as it is, by no means constitutes | the steward’s chief difficulty’ - He must know at all times ‘exactly what thepantries and refrigerators and storerooms contain, and in ordering food from the mar- kets, he must be ‘

OPERONS.

oe <n ggg AERTS

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sey Baa a hs eat ALRLREN Popular Science Monthly A battery of cooks surrounded by pots, pans, covers, and skillets which ° are all used during the busy rush hours At right: A special order for a guest known to be hard toplease. The head chef is there to cast hiscriticaleyeoverit sure that he has enough of every- thing to fill all probable _ orders, and yet not so much that it will be wasted. He doesn’t have to guess at how many people will order this or that dish so much as might be imagined. He has a book in which are pasted menus of many other days. On these he has marked the number of people that ordered a certain dish when it was offered before. Consequently he is able to judge very closely how much should be prepared the next time.. If by any chance there is a larger call for the dish than on the last occasion, the steward, who watches everything going on in _ the kitchens, notes this, so that by the time the supply begins to run out, he is having extra orders of the dish prepared. That is why a restaurant of the better class is seldom “‘out of” anything. And it is to pay the salazy of all these There are from seventy-five to one hundred cooks in the average restaurant. Allaremen., that your five-dollar bill goes, as well as to But girls prepare the salads and vegetables meet the cost of provisions.

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$16 Popular Science Monthly Both desk and chair are mounted on stools. The rela- tion of the hands to the keys remains the same whether the operator stands or sits at her work Tri L |) & should be measured for the chair in which he spends one-half of the time that he is awake during his entire working life. If the worker can perform his task standing as well as sit. ting, his implements and his work should be so posi- tioned that he can relieve his tense muscles by dis. carding his chair. Take the two accompany- ing photographs as an ex. ample of what Mr. Gilbreth has done for the typist. Note that both the typewriter desk and the chair are mounted up. onstools. The relation of the -hands to the keyboard remains the same whether the typist stands or sits. When she is tired of sitting, she has only to push aside the chair and stool and to continue her work standing. . Here we have an example of the prop- er distribution of necessary fatigue so that the efficiency of the worker is in- creased and her well-being improved. Each Salesman Has His Own Tele- phone in This Grocery CHICAGO grocer increases his busi- ness through telephone orders by supplying each of his salesmen with a special telephone on a table bearing the Work the Typewriter Standing and salesman’s name. Thus he avoids the Sitting—It Lessens Fatigue “FTSHERE is no waste of any kind in the world,”’ says Frank B. Gilbreth, the motion study expert, “‘that equals the waste from needless, ill-directed and ineffective motions.’’ One result of this waste is fatigue. Some fatigue is necessary and some unnecessary. It is the business of the efficiency en- gineer to eliminate all unneces- sary fatigue and to distribute the necessary fatigue properly. As the result of his study of fatigue, Mr. Gilbreth has come to the conclusion that few work benches or tables are absolutely satisfactory that do not permit the worker to work equally well standing or sitting. The worker delays and confusion entailed by calling the different salesmen to the telephone. dddageess Rare + £% y Ub pee ~~ Each salesman has his own telephone and samples of the day’s “specials” before him on his desk so that there is no delay be 5 i Oa CAREER, IO

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Thich that ntire n his - Sit. and Posi- lieve dis- any- 1 €X: oreth Note desk 1 up- f the laing ands ting, chair work TOp- e so S$ in- d. ele- busi- s by th a the the Iling 1e, Popular Science Monthly Buttons Are Now Made as a By-Product of Beer HE spent yeast which T collects in breweries and distilleries is put through a process which turns it out in the form of buttons, door- bell plates and knife handles. Formerly this left-over ma- terial was considered to be a bothersome waste; now it Is utilized, every bit of it. As it is gathered from the vats the yeast is of a dirty, gray- brown color. The first op- eration is to dye it and thea to work it over until it assumes the form of pow- der and can be hot-pressed into any form. In_ this stage it is called ‘‘ernolith.” It may be sawed, scraped, filed, drilled, engraved, turned to an edge, and polished. |The material has a particularly close and fine structure, and possesses sufficient hard- ness and elasticity for all ordinary purposes. This Truck Loader Will Lift One Ton Ten Inches Per Second ECHANICAL loading devices are not rare, but the one shown in the illustration below has several novel features. It is in three parts: a supporting frame, a traveling crane and a dynamo for generat- ing the necessary electricity. The travel- ing. crane comprises a motor, a clutch, a driving mechanism and a lifting winch. The hoist is carried * Chae a . Where the rigid teeth of a steel gear would scrape to- gether those of the gears made from cotton yield A hydraulic pressure of from six to eight thou- sand tons is required to make the fiber. gears Gear Wheels Made of Cotton. They Outlast Steel Gears EARS are now being made of ordinary cotton which outwear those made from the finest steel. It seems incredible, but it is true. The very hardness of the metal gears causes the teeth surfaces to scrape over each other when they mesh, producing hideous screeches and groans. Every one of these scrapings means a cer- on a transverse track which is part of the traveling crane, so that it can lift a load from any point across the width of the ma- chine. It can be locked in any position desired. The winch has a capacity lift of one ton at the rate of ten inches per second. E. Fourhee, of Paris, is the inventor. ys (eres A brewer’s wagon supplied with a travel- ing hoisting crane, which is electrically driven by a dynamo under the floor tain amount of wear. Teeth made out of compressed cotton yield. They are there- fore perfectly noise- less. Compared with the metal gears, they are indestructible. To make these fiber gears, a large cylinder built up of cotton disks is compressed to but one sixteenth of its former length!

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The New American Enfield Rifle A modification of the English Enfield with which our troops will be supplied to arm the new United States army in as short a time as possible, the War Department has decided to supplement its supply of Springfields with a modification of the English > Enfield rifle which is being manufactured in this country in large quantities for the British government. When plans for the army to be formed under the pro- visions of the draft law were being worked out, it was realized that the facilities which the Government had at hand for making the 30-caliber Springfield rifles were not adequate to turn out the number of rifles needed and that to build factories capable of supplying this number @ would mean a delay of many months. Three big arms concerns were then making about 2,200. Enfield rifles a day for the British Government and they were in a position to increase even this output. Hence the decision. to manufacture a modification of the English Enfield adapted to the standard 30-caliber ammunition of the United States rifle. Within a few months these concerns will be making more than 5,000 of the new rifles a day for the United States Government according to present estimates. The operating mechanism of the new rifle, while differing in general design, has the same functioning features as the Springfield; that is to say, opera- tion of magazine, loading and extracting, rotating motion of bolt and side ejection. The barrel is made of the same specifications as the Springfield with the exception that it is two inches longer than that of the Springfield, which measures 23.79 inches. The weight of the Springfield with bayonet attached is 9.69 pounds; the new Enfield model weighs about three-quarters of a pound more. The bayonet of the new arm is 1.125 inches longer than that of the Springfield, which is 16 inches. long; the assembled rifle with bayonet attached is 4.125 inches longer than the Springfield, which measures 59.212 inches from the butt plate to the point of the bayonet. The design of the bayonet of the new rifle is practically the same as that of the Springfield bayonet, the only difference being that in the new rifle the back or top edge of the blade is straight along its entire length and the front or lower edge tapers to a poiut. The magazine is practically a duplicate of the Springfield, permitting the use of _ the ‘same cartridge clip carrying five cartridges. In the Springfield the rear sight is on the top of the breach end of the barrel whereas in the new Enfield it is on the toprear end of the receiver. » 518 ik order to obtain a sufficient number of rifles with which me APART LL

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That Bit of Butter Left on Your Plate —What Becomes of It? HERE are about sixty-four individual —T helpings of butter in a pound, each helping equaling about one fourth of an ounce. If the accumulated “scrapings from the butter-plates after the meal were estimated there would probably be about one “pat” collected each day, in the average household. But if évery one of our 20,000,000 house- holds should waste one fourth of an ounce of butter daily, it would mean 312,500 pounds a day, or 114,062,500 pounds a year. To make this butter would require the product of over half a million cows. Even if such a waste occurred in only one home out of one hundred, the waste would still average over a million pounds—which is intolerable to think of, when the value of butter is so great intrinsically and gas- tronomically, and when those bits of butter might be put to such good usage if collected in a crock by the cook. This Vacuum Cleaner Is Used Like an Ordinary Broom NEW vacuum cleaner which operates without electricity combines the fea- tures of a carpet-sweeper and ordinary broom with the special vacuum feature. A bellows, which is operated by the backward and forward motion of the cleaner, furnishes suction which draws the dirt and dust up into the retaining bag. Revolving brushes in the central portion of the cleaner and a row of stiff bristles around the border serve to stir up the dust and loosen its hold on the threads of the carpet. As the particles are dislodged by the bristles, the brushes sweep them under the mouth of the suction tube and the bellows pressure sucks them up into the vacuum. In this way every particle of dirt is removed. The work is thorough and is accomplished with little effort. The cost of the cleaner is low and the operation is as little complicated as that of the ordinary broom. Thebrushes may be used alone. Popular Science Monthly The vacuum-h.om, which sweeps the carpet and then takes up the dirt by suction Shipping butter in crates in which an ice container is inclosed for refrigeration How Print Butter Is Shipped to the Retailer HE wholesaler who sends his butter out to the retail trade in neatly wrapped pound-packages or “prints,” runs less risk of having his product spoiled in transit than if the butter were shipped in tubs. The accom- panying photograph shows how he manages to keep the butter fresh and in shape until it is delivered. Into each packing box a closely covered tin filled with ice is placed. Around this the prints of butter are packed. Then the cover of the packing box is nailed on. The cold air is thus confined inside the box. The ice melts very slowly, so that the butter is kept firm and hard for many hours. Even when there are long delays in transit so that days instead of hours are consumed, as sometimes happens, the butter re- mains hard and firm; for if the ice should fin- ally melt, the water in the tin would still re- main almost ice-cold.

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Popular Science Monthly | © Newman Traveltalks and Brown and Dawson Every bit of wood in the little house has its story or legend. The images are the figureheads taken They are very lifelike and peer uncannily from unexpected places from the bows of vessels. The Graveyard of Ships that Passed in the Night ONNSANTO is the name of a man remarkable not only in character but in occupation. His home is the Island of St. Thomas, recently bought from Den- mark by the United States. A visitor to St. Thomas cannot fail to hear about him, and should not miss the opportunity of seeing him. _ He lives on Krum Bay, a crooked arm of the blue Caribbean, almost landlocked by the hills that surround it on three sides. It has been the graveyard of many a ship. In this little haven the vessels were disman- tled; the shore-line is strewn with their re- mains. The home of Monnsanto is con- structed entirely from the wood of these ships. Every beam ’ and plank has its story or legend. Wood is wood and iron may be iron, but when it is put into the form of ships, it becomes a thing of life and each plank shares the ship’s history. The cells of this filled with ated as the wax ink which What Is It—Pencil or Pen? It Has Neither Wood nor Graphite WRITING implement composed of a mixture of wax and finely-ground pumice stone containing particles of ink, has been invented by William C. Geer, of Akron, Ohio, to take the place of ordinary and fountain pens, pencils, crayons and all other writing implements. As the body of the new writing device is composed of a mixture of wax and pumice stone, which is easily worn.away when rubbed against a paper surface, the inventor claims that the cells of ink intermixed with the wax and pumice stone will also be liberated, giving a uniform supply of ink. The device is made by mixing the wax, pumice stone and ink together. When it is heated to the proper temperature it is sud- denly immersed in cold water. This chills and solidifies the wax mix- ture, producing a body having a cellular structure, each cell ‘being filled with ink. pencil-pen are is liber- interior melts

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[as of a und ink, r, of lary and ody of a ch is ist a aims ixed and also ng a ink, nade wax, ink it is oper sud- cold and mix- lular _Popular Science Monthly A Shock Absorber for the Soldier’s Kit OT all the difficulty that N a soldier has in carry- ing a pack on his back is due to the sheer weight of it. An equal, if not a greater strain is caused by the con- stant jolting of the equip- ment as he walks along. To ease this strain, ‘an Englishman, James A. Pugh, of Cardiff, Wales, has in- vented a pneumatic shock absorber for the soldier. The incessant jolts of the soldier’s pack are cushioned on this, and the strain of marching is correspondingly lessened. Two small pads of rubber are sewed in pockets at the shoulders of the man’s tunic. Another similar, but larger pad is sewed in the back of the tunic, just above the belt. Corrugations on the under side of these pads allow the circulation of cool air, so that the soldier’s back will not feel the heat of the pack. By inflating all three pads through the small connecting tubes and their check-valves, they are converted into veritable cushions which will take away all the shock of the heaviest pack. The pack is fastened on in the usual manner, ‘and is then inflated through the mouthpiece shown in the photograph below. The two ends of the mouthpiece fasten together across the front when not in use. When unclasped, the pads be- come deflated automatically. Lt Gee eS ‘yin : Ninttetea*® i % Pad # A life-boat drill on board a coast liner. board must don life-preservers when a bell rings These air-filled cushions keep the back cool and protect it from jolts All on The Life-Preserver Is More Important Than Meals Aboard Ship HE life-preserver is your best friend when you travel on ocean liners these days. Even the captains of ships that steam along the coast insist that you get acquainted with the life-preserver the first hour or so you are on board. Lifeboat drills are now regularly held on all liners. At the sound of a bell the passengers and as many of the crew as can get away from their posts, rush to positions on deck previously assigned to them. They immediately don their life-preservers and then wait for the next signal, which may direct them to get into the boats or order them back to their staterooms. A certain number of pas- sengers are assigned to each boat and an officer is appointed to take charge. Sometimes drills are held every two hours dur- ing the day to acquaint the passengers thoroughly with their positions on deck and to get them used to the warning bell which usually sounds when least expected. The life-pre- servers are made of canvas-covered cork.

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522 Two Ties in One—The Bow and the Four-in-Hand . D. BAILEY, of Coffeyville, Kansas, has devised a method of saving his ties by combining his four-in-hands and bow ties in one tie. Thus he can wear the bow ties as four-in-hands, or the other way around. His first efforts resulted in a folding tie, too bulky to be practi- cal. Then he put one tie inside the other, making one serve as the padding of the other. That met all requirements. This method of combin- ing the ties by means of clasps eliminates all padding in the four- in-hand, because the bow tie takes the place of the pad- ding, and also elimi- nates all but the end of the four-in- hand itself. In the || duo-tie there is little | more material than in 4 the regular four-in- \ hand. The under part of the tie does not show when worn, so that you could wear a green bow tie and a red end, if you wanted it that way or any other combination. t Tying a four-in-hand. When worn in this way the bow-tie portion is the padding Your Motor Is Known by the Piston Rings It Has OW far and how fast your automobile travels, depends upon the power emanating from the motor, and _ that power, in turn, depends upon the piston rings. Piston rings are inserted because _ they increase the motor power of the car, keep the compression at maximum and therefore put more power behind the drive of the piston itself. A good piston Popular Science Monthly power. Therefore, the piston rings are the soul of an automobile motor. The finest built motor with indifferent piston rings is an indifferent motor. Built to give a rated power, it loses that power if the piston rings do not conserve it. When you select a piston ring for a motor, it is best to get a ring that is made of one piece. Since the piston of a gasoline engine has to work in its cylinder millions of times, the fewer parts there are the better. As a rule, the piston ring should be made of durable cast iron or steel. It Holds and Presses Your Tie at the Same Time COMBINED necktie holder and press which takes the wrinkles out of your scarfs after you have worn them is the latest con- venience for the man who is particular about his neckwear. The holder and press is of veneered maple. It takes the wrinkles out of a scarf at the particular. place where they have been caused, by stretch- ing that portion under spring wire clamps. The wide part of the tie is held in a press as well as the narrow part, strong wire springs holding the wooden members closely together. The holder may be hung on the wall, as a portion of the wire spring projects for that purpose. Several ties can be accommodated in the holder at one time. Pressed in this way, the ties are kept smooth without the sheen imparted by a hot iron. ring will touch the cylinder walls at all points, making an air-tight joint. With all joints air-tight the gasoline concentrates its entire energy on the top of the piston head when it explodes. It is like the charge of powder behind a bullet in a rifle. eee A poor piston ring, like an ill-fitting bullet, will lose much of its propulsive A holder that keeps your ties in shape by pressing them tightly between boards clamped together CRREREES: WRG GE aE: 1:

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the est 3 is ted fon t is fon ork es, the fon 2e], eS <D der ich cles irfs orm on- Jan out of It t of ar. ave ch- der SS yire ely the ‘ing ties at cept

TREES: URET 2 et ‘ SY BEREAN Le: PP ARES IBC,

Popular Science Monthly A Crutch Built on the Principle of the Rocking Chair NEW crutch has 523 sulate the water from the heat of the fires. A method employed by a Chicago firm for doing away with the soot evil, first allows the soot to col-

made its appear- ance in England, where crutches just now are as numerous as walking sticks. Its principal feature is a rocker at the base, like that of a rocking chair. This is said to make walking easier. Instead of two sticks coming together to form a round stump the sticks of the new crutch are continued parallel from the shoul- der-rest to the rocker. The rest that fits under the armpit is a curved piece of hollow rubber tubing, like a motor-car tire, and the

lect. Then, through rows of nozzles mounted at short in- tervals at the top of the water tubes, live steam is passed at high velocity. At first, the steam jets are directed downward on the lower rows of tubes. No speck of dust can hold its perch. By slowly rotating the nozzles, the turning jet is di- rected upon the middle rows of tubes, and lastly upon the very topones. The battery of steam jets strike at an angle. The steam glances off, carrying

handle is adjustable to the height.

Steam Jets Which Save Thousands of Dollars in Large Power Plants N large power plants even little ‘‘losses,”’ if allowed to continue, will produce an annual loss of thousands of dollars. Of all such losses, that caused by soot is one of the most persistent. Collecting as it does in layers perhaps an inch thick about the water tubes in the boilers, it serves to in- The crutch has a rocker like a rocking chair, which makes walking easier the soot with it with- out wearing away the pipes. At no point do the nozzles direct the steam directly upon the pipes. By blow- ing diagonally upon them the force ex- érted is used in carrying away the soot rather than in beating upon the pipes. In this way a boiler can be rendered one hundred per cent more efficient. Less coal or fuel will be required to get up a given amount of steam and the pipes and metal parts of the boiler will last longer.

fig 2-B

Fig 2-A : Element rotated 45°. Nozz/es Slightly otf Center Concen=. Showing

7% ee eleva- tion of dHag- Ae : ‘ - onal plane BAS oe seam "sate et pe \\ lowing on the diag- a id onal are deflecte % fe. steam on @/0ng tube surfaces 2 ext : tabes : praducing thorough digheriup. chedning:

dow z

Layers of soot on the water tubes of a boiler insulate the heat from the fives. is avoided by blowing the soot off with high-velocity steam through sets of rotating nozzles Such a condition

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524 Nasty Job This—Cleaning Customers’ Ears VIDENTLY the Japanese are a long- suffering people. Take for instance the docility of the Popular Science Monthly the handles the swing is set in motion. The harder one pulls the higher the swing goes, The inventor also provides the swing with foot ropes which may be operated in conjunction with the hand ropes or in- dependently of occupant of the barber’s chair in the accompanying photograph. He has seated himself there to get his hair trimmed and _ will pay the price, no doubt. But as part of the tonsorial op- eration, the barber, with a contrivance somewhat like a series of blunt knit- ting needles padded on the ends with cotton, proceeds to clean out the ears of his patron. The boy in the back ground illustrates them. These are fastened to the handles in the same manner as the hand ropes. By working both foot and hand ropes the swing can be set in motion almost immediately. By pulling downward the swing is forced forward, and when the handles are re- leased the weight of the child forces the swing backward. The foot-ropes and stirrups also make it possible for two children to the oriental’s fear of the camera. Pulling and Pushing to Make the Swing Go ECAUSE it was impossible to read the evening newspaper and swing his children at the same time, George A. Netcott, of Independence, Iowa, set about to devise a self-operated swing which would enable a child to swing itself without calling on the parent for assistance. After developing three styles of swings he finally adopted the one illustrated on account of the ease of operation. His swing differs from the ordinary swing in that it has an additional pair of ropes which serve as the propelling force. These ropes are se- cured at their upper ends to hooks placed a few inches in front of the hooks which hold the swing ropes. At their lower ends the ropes terminate in a pair of handles which slide freely up and down the swing ropes. By pulling on supports Propelling Cleaning out the patron’s ears is an im- . portant part of the barber’s duty in Japan swing together, one operating the ; handles and _ the other standing in the stirrups and ‘‘pumping”’ in time with the hand move- ment. Although designed for the smaller children, the swing is strong enough fora child of any size. Its weight-carrying power depends not so much on the ropesas on the strength of the ceiling hooks. NEY Hand and foot ropes connected with a pair of hollow handles enable the chili to operate the swing without assistance 3 fe é ‘3

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The des. ing | in in- of are the ime and oth pes be 10st ard ‘ced ORT | Sg ROMER FES a a eat cee a aa Sie a | ‘with - This Bird’s Nest Is Evidently a Two-Room Apartment IRDS, like persons, sometimes do strange things. Here is a double nest f a “Chipping” sparrow, an un- set is indeed for this bird. A guess at the ex- planation would be that aroving bird, probably a cuckoo, which is notoriously lazy and homeless, deposited an egg in the sparrow’s nest while she was taking a bit of recrea- tion. When the spar- rows discovered it they busied themselves making an addition to the original nest, to which they transferred their own eggs, leaving the intruder’s in the old nest to addle. Which Is It—Boat or Motor Car? It Travels on Both Land and Water ae ELIA the motor duck’”’ is no doubt remembered by readers of the Poru- LAR SCIENCE MonrtTHLY. For the benefit of those who did not see her in our issue of March, 1916, let it be said that Delia is a Popular Science M onthly A freak nest built by a pair of sparrows probably because of a strange egg laid by another bird in the original nest 525 curious vehicle which plunges through the waves as easily as any boat and which runs on land as easily as any automobile; for Delia is both boat and car. Now comes M. J. Ravaillier, a French inventor, with a smaller vessel of similar design. The accom- panying photographs show this boat on land and emerging from the Seine. It measures about sixteen and one- half feet in length and seats four persons. Its steel hull is sup- ported in front and rear by the usual axle and wheels. The axles fit into watertight tubes which pass . through the hull. The - craft is propelled by a twelve-horsepower engine. Two distinct transmissions are used. It Takes About 150 Pounds Pressure to Break an Egg ji, garni executed a wonderful piece of workmanship when she put the shell around the egg. Most of us have an idea that the shell is fragile. It is—sometimes; but scientists have established the fact that the average pressure under The. boat .is ; » hauled up out of -the water ropes. » After which it : “proceeds over > +sthe-land route with a chauf- feur at the driving wheel which white eggs break is one hundred and _ twelve pounds. Strange to say, brown eggs are stronger than white ones. It takesa pressure averaging one hun- dred and fifty-five pounds to break them, the minimum being one hundred and twenty-five pounds and the maximum one hundred and seventy-five pounds. When it is considered that the thick- ness of an aver- age eggshell is .O13 and the di- ameter of the eggs one and three-quarter inches, some idea may be formed of their enormous resistance.

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Healey’s Instruction Box This wooden box is modeled after the principles of a safe. Oral instruc- tions are given as to the method of opening the door. This can be accom- plished only if the steps in the procedure are accurately followed, one after the other. Mechanical manipulation, memory, and the ability to follow in- structions are involved in the per- formance of this test. It may also be suggestive as regards the vocational aptitudes of the subject being tested stone blind. One of the two peered about to find out if the old man was really alone. The other—the eighteen-year-old youth—took a hammer and knocked the old man senseless. Then the flat was looted. The two robbers were caught as they fled. Why was such violence nec- essary? Couldn’t the blind old man have been restrained without cruelly beating him? These are the ques- tions of any normal, intel-

YOUNG man of eighteen and a com- panion entered a tenement building. They seemed to be peddlers. They knocked at a door and entered a flat. Within was an old man, confined to a chair, helpless, and What Makes a Criminal? Reaching the minds of those who habitually rob and kill By Dr. L. E. Bisch Dr. Bisch is one of the leading authorities on abnorm<] psychology in this country. He occupied a chair in Columbig | University. His work in connection with the establishment | of the psychopathic police laboratory of New York city is we} known. He is now on his way to France in order to study for. the Government the psychological effects of war on our soldiers.—Editor. CNS LOTUS ARID ligent being. But these two criminals were not normal. At the Psychopathic Laboratory of New York Police Headquarters the eighteen-year-old thief was found | to be mentally about six years old. And that iswhy he | used violence when violence was unnecessary. Hundreds upon hundreds of such criminals are arrested each year. In New York city alone it has been estimated roughly that each day there fall into the hands of the police between twenty-five and thirty persons who are mentally below the normal to such an extent that they should be examined by experts and placed in proper institutions for life. Only thus can society ever rid itself of a tremendous burden of crime. No Hope for the Feeble-Minded Feeble-minded individuals never were normal and never will be normal. All are potential criminals. Be- cause they cannot reason, because they have no moral stan- dards, because they cannot conduct them- selves like respec- table members. of the community, they fall an easy prey to dishonest minds. What

The Mirror-Drawing Test for Accuracy

The subject is asked to trace a design which he cannot see directly because of the cardboard placed between his eyes and the design but which ne can see very clearly by means of its reflection in ine mirror. Here “practise makes perfect.” The test in genera. reveals the subject’s learning ability and brings to Jight many special characteristics

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mc} nbia nent wel tudy our nal, lice und y he are has into irty uch ned ions rid me, vere nal, Be- suse tan- hey em- 3ec- s- of lity, an to est hat Fee CW EP TASER RELI, 2 ICE PETE _ing may dictate. ‘The “high-graders”’ -cases” may deceive _one—deceive so well ‘crimes ever perpe- Popular Science Monthly is more, they follow the natural lines of least ing, but when once criminal tendencies resistance. tion, they readily go Unable to overcome tempta- make themselves manifest, segregation is the only course. We to any extremes which their narrow and stunted think- and ‘‘borderline that only the experi- enced, after repeated and varied testing andexamination,can discover their de- fects. This “‘almost- normal’ type, with his superficial rea- soning and cunning planfulness, consti- tutes the most dan- gerous class imagin- able. At his door can be laid some of the most hideous need more institu- tions where such un- fortunates can be cared for and. pro- tected, developed mentally and manu- ally to whatever de- gree may be possible, and given’ employ- ment and a mode of living best suited to make them useful and happy. The insane were once normal and are now mentally sick. This in itself means irresponsibility. The proper treatment here is even more obvious. What good is a prison sentence ? Surely it does not reform. We are be- ginning to see that the jail is no place for an irresponsible person. The padded cell is giving place to the hospital. But the change is all too slow. Only too often trated. Once feeble- minded, always feeble-minded. Edu- cation may improve, To the trained observer much can be learned from noting a person’s powers of equilibrium when in some watchful care and —— pennies - that there ae. re of the : m3 ands, eyelids, face muscles—also marked swaying studied training may of the entire body—may suggest the presence of organic render a defective nervous disease in incipient or advanced stages social and law-abid- 7“ Picture Puzzle Test This is a highly-colored picture mounted on a wooden frame out of which ten square spaces have been cut. The subject selects from among fifty small square designs those ten which would seem the most logical insertions to complete the picture. Here the subject is inserting a child's bonnet in its proper space one suffering from paresis (‘‘softening of the brain’’) is arrested, sentenced and jailed; the underlying cause of his misconduct is wholly undetected; perhaps he is looked upon as a drunkard because of his strange antics. Yet paresis is an incurable mental disease that al- ways leads to dementia. So, many mild insanities pass through the courts unrecognized. A Laboratory Where Criminals” Are Studied The work of the’ Psychopathic Laboratory. proved a.number of things. Of the cases chosen from the daily police ‘‘line-up,” and the cases examined ’at the ‘requést of Police Lieutenants, Magistrates, Judges of other courts, Department of Correction, and the Parole Com- mission, about 50 per cent of the first 450 prisoners studied were

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528 shown to be suffering from some degree of mental abnormality. Many of these cases would have escaped the detection of the casual observer. The symptoms Popular Science Monthly mindedness, nor even insanity, especially when characteristic signs or symptoms are not marked or are absent. Numerous tests are necessary. A single test alone is not significant. It were not marked, and only by care- ful examina- tion was the real nature of the maladies brought out. Many of the cases were hopeful. That is, prompt and energetic treatment would have cured them, was found at the Labora-. tory that an investigation of the home conditions, hereditary traits, and even study of other mem- bers of the prisoner’s family, often revealed most valu- so. that fur- ther criminal practises would have been pre- vented. It must not be assumed that all criminals are abnormal mentally. Some, in fact, de- liberately enter upon a career of crime just as any person might choose a profession. Still, lack of education, bad companionship, unfavorable home and neighborhood en- vironment play a most important part in the life of a normal criminal. All repeated offenders show a certain amount of judg- ment-error. They do not learn or do not want to learn that “‘it pays to be good.” Real reformative measures often help. ‘To stigmatize an individual for life is unfair as wellasuseless. If acriminal is unsound mentally he should be treated; segregated or both. If he is sound mentally his case should be studied as an individual and a sincere attempt made to reach ‘‘the man inside.”” After such an eliminative process only a comparatively small residual -will remain for whom the outlook is hopeless. A beginning has been. made in all these fields, but much still remains to be done. How the Criminal Is Tested To classify the criminal population was the work of the New York Psychopathic Laboratory. It was proved beyond ques- tion that moral d2viation is frequently associated with, and caused by, mental de- fectiveness or derangement. It is not an easy matter io detect feeble- able data. Menta The Simple Form-Board Test tests are . Tests of this kind do not involve the use of language and are valuable in - . 9 examining foreigners. The face test in the illustration was devised by Dr. two main Knox. The prisoner istry ing to place the nose piece where the eye belongs. k i n d ae This test is very simple since each piece of wood has a design of a part : SO- of the face drawn on one side of it and only one arrangement is possible called Tests of Intelli- gence and so-called Form-Board Tests or “Tests of Doing.’ In the first named the use of language is involved and the subject answers a list of questions given, follows written directions, etc. The most valuable of these have been “‘standardized’’—that is, after experimenting upon hundreds of nor- mal subjects of average intellect a deter- mination of the normal response has been made. The replies of any given subject are then compared with this normal standard and so a suggestive grading as to normality and subnormality can be made. In the Form-Board tests the results are interpreted in similar fashion. They are especially valuable in that the use of language is largely eliminated. In most of these the subject places irregularly shaped pieces of wood in a frame—only one arrangement being possible for a successful performance. This by no means covers the whole sub- ject of mental testing. Many other tests are in general use and the scoring is often difficult. » The great value of psychological tests rests in the fact that in this way complicated mental processes are to a ce:- tain’ degree objectified and thereby the personal equation and subjective interpre- tation on the part of the examiner is minimized. , Often numerous procedures and tests that call for special abilities or intelligence reactions are necessary.

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She Launches Seaplanes and She’s Unsinkable A ship which is built to serve as a starting platform for airplanes and to combat the submarine menace F water is reasonably clear, a submarine, ] not too far submerged, can be seen from anairplane. Unfortunately an airplane cannot rise from rough water. Hence, even when used as a scout for a battle fleet in order to determine the number and posi- tion of an enemy’s ships, the seaplane has its limitations. Mr. John L. Bogert, a mechanical and consulting engineer of New York city, has designed what seems to us the most practical and brilliant plan thus far pro- posed for coping with the problem of detecting submarines as well as increasing the possible applications of the seaplane in rough weather. We doubt whether sub- marines can be detected under water except in the most favorable conditions, but apart from that Mr. Bogert’s plan has genuine merit. Like an eagle, an airplane must be in motion before it can fly. It must run along the ground or the water until it gathers momentum. Since it is impossible to gather speed in rough water, Mr. Bogert proposes first of all to eliminate the super- structures and deck houses found on every ship. All smokestacks, ventilators, masts, boat cranes, deck houses, and obstructions that might injure the returning or departing airplane are either eliminated entirely or made so that they can be stowed away. The wireless masts, as well as the derricks for hoisting the seaplanes on board after their flight, are made to swing from a hori- zontal to a vertical position. The hatches are flush with the deck. ee emer ome = GnRapid-fire guns i‘ — Hatches flush Bt with i ease Ss, ; hes i —— Hinge Cabins, living uarters. and repair shop for seaplanes & A> Position of wireless \ 7» masts when raised an Incline deck forward * — to launch seaplanes Pee a re. Derrick masts =—,oinRapid-fire guns ‘Wireless masts Bow-on view of the Bogert mother-ship showing seaplane ready for its flight Since the airplane must. have a good start, the ship is 560 feet long. Toward the bow, the runway rises so as to provide a good take-off for the airplane. Beneath the take-off is the pilot house. It is possible for a skilful aviator to land on the deck of Mr. Bogert’s vessel. But it is more likely that he would prefer to alight on the water. Should he do so, a crane will hoist him on board again. Mr. Bogert’s mother-ship for airplanes (it can carry at least a half dozen of them) is torpedo-proof. The hull is subdivided by transverse bulkheads and is provided with cellular sides to distribute the force of the explosion of at least two torpedoes. A battery of four six-inch rapid-fire guns is so mounted on the ship that any three can be trained on an object ahead of the stern. Landing on a deck is not easy, par- ticularly if the speed of the seaplane is thirty-five or forty miles an hour. Mr. Bogert would therefore provide the sea- planes with brakes which would bring them to a stop in about one hundred and eighty feet. This rate of retardation is about twice as great as that of the emergency brakes used on most railways. Mr. Bogert’s ship is to be driven by Diesel engines. Steam, however, could be used if folding smokestacks are adopted. a a oon Engine room skylight flush with deck Ginvapid- ding and launching deck / a “fire guns Position of derrick masts when raised ei oe ‘ The masts, funnels, derricks, of Mr. Bogert’s mother-ship for seaplanes can be swung down. _An absolutely unobstructed deck is thus provided for the launching of the seaplane. The ship is to be 560 feet long and about 80 feet beam. It will be driven either by Diesel or steam engines 529

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By Carl Dienstbach ONSIDER well the photograph repro- duced at the bottom of this page, showing French soldiers engaging ina new kind of target practice. They are learning how to shoot at swift, low-flying airplanes. It is an historic document— . this photograph. It shows how formidable the airplane has become in an unexpected way. During more than one charge, air- planes have actually flown ahead of the troops and assisted them in the attack. Flying machines have also deliberately swooped down and with their machine-guns raked the affrighted men in the enemy’s trenches from a height of scarcely two hundred feet. Only the other day a pilot dropped down from the skies and shot several German staff officers who were riding in an automobile. All this is in keeping with what we expect of an artificial bird. Before the war, ma- chines flew at a fixed level in order to avoid the eddies and swirls near the ground. Now they are like hawks and eagles. They swoop down and soar up, wheel around, The Charge of the Lightest Brigade The men in the airplanes swoop down and rake the trenches of the enemy with machine-gun fire—a new military maneuver The airplane swoops down suddenly like an ' enraged eagle, rakes the enemy trench with a — machine gun and flashes away out of range circle slowly and perform evolutions which even a swallow could hardly emulate. Nor is any attention paid to high winds or to rain. All this is largely due to © Int. Film Serv. French soldiers engaged in a new kind of target practice, in which airplanes, flying low at the rate of about one hundred and thirty miles an hour, are the objects at which the guns are aimed * 530 AEP PRG

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AOL FEEL IT TO, ich Jor er erro * range of bee Popular Science Monthly 7 531 the vast improvements that have been made in motors. Without this enormous techni- cal advance men could not fly with im- punity close to the ground. As the writer prophesied many years ago, the direct result of this progress is the creation of what may be range. This development is simply the automatic outcome of the perfected art of fighting with airplanes—likewise efficient only at close range. After an air-man feels certain of himself, it is second nature to apply the same methods close to the ground —yjust as the termed “a second zone of safety.” The first zone lies high in the air, far be- yond the anti-aircraft guns. Let the aircraft drop close to the earth, let it all but grazechurch spires, and it enters this second zone of safety—a zone which becomes safe because falcon fights a weasel. And so the “second zone of safety,’’ near the ground, was quite inci- dentally dis- covered. Alpine hunters must learn how to fight enraged eagles. The troops in the trenches must con- tend with machinegun bullets com- of. the ing from breathless above. Now - speed with do you see which the : why that pilot flies. © int. vim Serv. photograph Why did — - —_ res = —_ “a = es a is an his- * iller cers ect 0 m thei . . cavalry’ _” chav cg eit te se a pnp ay an ct ie an toric docu- “ry va the The balloons go up in smoke, while the officers descend ment? oO ays, ride up boldly upon the enemy? Well do I remember how we were surprised in a sham battle in 1892 by the sudden ap- pearance of three ‘“‘enemy’’ hussats who craned their necks over a ridge not sixty yards away. Our captain finally managed to blurt out: ‘Well, somebody shoot at them.” But they were gone long before we could reach the stacked rifles. What is the twenty-miles-an-hour that a cavalry horse can do compared with the ninety- miles an hour expected even of slow flying machines today? Who can hope to hit the small one-hundred-and-thirty-mile-an-hour fighter as he flits over the ground? As soon as the airplane developed its full power of flying near the ground as well as high up in the azure, it became a real bird of prey, fighting in the only efficient way that a bird can fight, which means at close Let Cheese Be Your Principal Meat Substitute POUND of cheese supplies more than twice as much energy as a pound of fowl or round steak and almost twice as much protein as the same amount of fowl or ham. It is, pound for pound, more nourishing than any meat. Why, there- fore, do we not use it as a substitute for meat? . According to the Department of Agri- culture we do not appreciate the value of cheese as a food; we think it is indigestible. Yet more than ninety per cent of the pro- tein of cheese is digested and niflety per cent of its energy is available. For this one reason alone it should form an important part of the daily fare. When cooked it is as easily digested as any other article of diet.

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532 Put These Webbed Gloves on and Swim Like a Duck OW would you like to be able to swim as fast as a duck, and with as little effort, with webbed hands and feet to push your way through water? It is not at all impossible, now that Dr. A. Kandor Zawadski, of Honolulu, has invented his swimming glove. As the accompanying photo- graph shows, the webbed glove makes a veritable duck’s foot -out of the human hand. When swim- ming, the gloved hand is spread out at each backward stroke and closed each time the hand isdrawn forward. According to the inventor, a swim- mer equipped with the duck-like hands can not only outdistance other swimmers but the hands enable him to stay up for hours with slight exertion. Statistically, What Is Your Chance of Being Killed in This War? F you, a drafted man, believe that sta- tistics tell the truth, you will feel as safe in France as you usually do in the streets of New York. So says Roger W. Babson, the eminent statis- Popular Science Monthly The swimming glove, made for both hand and foot, is webbed like a duck’s foot and will keep the swimmer afloat The Small Caterpillar Tractor Rings the Death Knell of the Industrial Railroad SMALL tractor of the ‘conventional caterpillar type which is designed as a substitute for the narrow-gage industrial railroads operated in connection with large plants, has recently made its appearance. It can move material rapidly from one department of a fac- tory to another and pass obstacles, since it does not require roads or tracks for its operation. Further- more, it does not mar the surface over which it passes, be | cause it lays its own track as it goes along, For thisreasonitcan | be used inside factory buildings. It can pass | through doorways of the | ordinary size, and when not used in transporting material from one de- partment to another, it can be employed in the shipping room or on the loading platform. It is but fifty inches wide and fifty-two inches high. There are any number of other uses to which the industrial tractor may be put. For instance, it can be employed for pulling loaded wagons out of excavations, or it can be used in logging camps, or in lumber yards, mines, and shipyards. SORIA ET tician. Furthermore, he says that the man who is connect- ed with the heavy field artil- lery is no more likely to be killed than one in the employ of a railroad. However, he does not hold out such high hopes for the lieutenants, sergeants and corporals, the death rate being very much greater among officers than among privates. Also, the mortality is higher among volunteer corps than among drafted men. Sixty men per thousand are now being killed in the war, and about one hundred and fifty men out of each thousand are wounded. The new caterpillar tractor adapted for commercial use in manufacturing plants. building and as a substitute for the industrial railroad ] It can be used inside and outside a

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al 1S al n in C- 1s ts f- ot er mn a< 8 er

PIS Sk eee ‘ ON RAR

Lowering the Life-Boats by Means of Gear-Operated Davits XO make possible the rapid lowering of I lifeboats, Everett W. Myers and Aaron E. Sharpley, of Key West, Florida, have devised gear-operated swinging davits. Each davit is

Popular Science Monthly 533 place a large number of these dummy soldiers beside the regular troops on the firing line, to serve as decoys for the Germans. Unable to distinguish between the real and faked soldier, he believes the Germans will waste a great amount of ammunition on the papier maché figures. In this in-

provided near its shank and close to the deck with a gear, with which a bevel gear carried by a crank shaft meshes. When the boat is to be lowered the cranks swing the davit arms toward each other and thence outwardly to lower the

stance, every hit will be as good as a miss. Study the accompany- ing photo- graph and you will see the papier mfché figure at the right of the inven- tor. It is not easy to dis- tinguish one figure from the other. At a distance of

boat. A cover plate over the gear - protects it from water and from rusting.

The Camouflage Soldier—A Decoy for the German Sharpshooter © E have heard of tin soldiers but it has remained for J. Burgess, an officer in training at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, to bring to our attention a camouflage soldier of papier maché. His plan is to When the boat is to be lowered, cranks swing the davit arms toward each other and outwardly after grasping the boat from fifty to one hundred yards, say, it is extremely doubtful if the Germans could do so. The dummy figures cost practically nothing to make, and they can be molded to represent a soldier in any one of a number of firing positions. Whether it would be wise to place the dummies beside troops in the trenches is open to doubt, but there is no question but what a party of sharp- shooters could use the figures to advantage. They could certainly be used as decoys.

Pr a” seer The dummy soldier, made of papier mfché, is seen © Underwood at the left of the picture and Underwood

eee een ne - —

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Do It With Tools A device for locat- ing trouble in cylin- ders. It has an in- sulated handle at- tached to a current- carrying chain, the two ends of which are grounded The modern car- penter takes his shop to his work. At right is shown a small gasoline en- gine for driving the saw and joiner in a portable shop ANN AM A particularly tough flexible boiler stay-bolt for use in en- gine fire-boxes Each end of the many arms on this shaft is an individual clasp for holding stock to be glued so that many pieces may be done at a time ‘534 and Machinery An oil burner for heating the ma- terials when mixing concrete in cold weather. The burner consists of steel pipe with an elliptical cross sec- tion and with a short bend in the lower end to direct the flame. The storage tank is placed on top and holds sufficient for a two days’ run A hammer hav- ing are-enforced handle to reduce the shock of heavy blows. The inner metal portion has a cushioning effect Mp BU EER ANE eS, ME Ne eames re LE 5 MERA oA NR EGE REED TV TN BE mo OTe

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oc eS VW Vv Do It With Tools and Machinery SRN Below: A cushion sprocket for eliminating the jerky action of a motorcycle engine. Coiled springs in the web of the sprocket take up all the pull Above: A shutter which can be operated from a distance to close the engine cocks when the water gage breaks A ratchet auger handle convenient when boring holes in places difficult to reach. The handle is easily taken off Below: A pips vise specially devised to be carried in the Me tool kit. It f . weighs only four pounds Below: A wrench with curved handle and readily adjustable jaws Above: This awl. carries its own spool of waxed thread. You do not need to break off the strands to sew A machine for bending stéel, iron, brass and copper pipe without cracking or crimping the metal. It is equipped with interchangeable heads to take different sizes of pipe 535

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Popular Science Monthly It is geared to the shafting by means of a silent chain drive. The gener- ator and pump are driven from the shaft by an ordinary belt system, The lights, more than a hundred in all, are supplied by direct current without the necessity of storage bat- teries. However, there is a surplus of lights, so that in the near future both water wheel and fountain are to be illuminated at night. Under the waterfall and dam isa milk house, Maltreating a Rubber Water Bottle to Test Its Strength A modern water wheel placed on an ancient ‘mill site furnishes current for one hundred electric lights The mechanism of the electric - generating sys- tem. The wheel develops about ten horsepower His Lighting Bill Is Twenty-Five Cents a Month N_ old water wheel on the estate of Frank B. Moore, at Trenton, N. J., is made to run an electric light plant and to pump water for three acres of trucking ground at an ap- proximate expense of twenty-five cents per month for lubricat- ing oil—the water doing the rest. The property now oc- cupied by Mr. Moore was formerly a deserted mill site. The old stone residence was erected in 1775. The miniature mill seen in the illustration is built on the old mill site, the lower floor being used as a pumping sta- tion, machine shop and garage, and the upper story as a_ recreation room. The wheel is ten feet high and three feet wide. It is mounted on roller bearings and develops hot water bottle. about ten horsepower. Testing the strength of the rubber in a It was uséd in this case as a life rope without accident N?: the photograph shown below is not a thriller intended for the motion picture screen. It is merely a record of a test made by a rubber goods manufacturing com- pany to find out how much strain their hot stand. First a girl was allowed to have fun with it after it had been filled with water, oy using it as a punching bag. But she did not punch it about in the ordinary way. She wore metal “knuckles’”’ such as the highwaymen in the dime novels use. After she had tired herself out without af- fecting the bag in the least, she turned it over to four heavy - weights. Each of them took a corner and pulled with all his might. Still the bag held. Several tests were made but the final one was most excit- ing. The man who made it risked his life. He weighs one hundred and sixty pounds; but with only the bag as a rope he allowed himself to be pulled up from a window to the roof of the build- ing—-and there was no accident to himself or to the bag. After this given without reserve. water bottle would” test the official “OK” was CAR

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ire fa de ds m- OW 10t fun ‘er, she ary me 1ad af- ast, our of and sht. rere inal cit- vho his one xty ynly he » be dow lild- ; no or this (5 ee EIS Ts of twine. -- The.im- town in Italy will Traveling in Italy Popular Science Monthly How You Light Your Cigar When 537 on a heavy metal base mounted on rubber pads so as not to scar or scratch adesk. It consists of a metal framework, handle- XHE Italian sub- stitute for the neat and _ conve- nient cigar lighter found in every American cigar store is a long rope lighted and placed outside of the to- bacco shop. It is made of cheap hemp, of rope waste, and even of ragstwisted roughly into shape and held together- by. strings provised lighter is made by.the store- keeper himself. A tourist making his. way down the main street of a find strings of these plunger, a cont bined water-tank and moistening wick, a stamp- counting register and a platform on which the envelopes are laid to be stamped. The back of the framework is hinged at the bot- tom to open in order to insert rolls of five hundred or one thousand ‘stamps in ribbons, . -one stamp wide, as ‘furnished by the -Government. The -- roll, slipped over a -+« pin in the hinged “cover, is fed‘ for- ward by a system of levers operated by ropes all along the Hour with a New Machine “ONE would be the stamp-licker and the wet sponge were every office furnished -with this new mechanical stamper having a © Brown and Dawson capacity of two thousand let- ters per hour. This machine differs from others of its kind in that it moistens the envel- ope instead of the stamp and in this way does away with the possibility of the stamps gumming and thereby preventing the successful operation of the machine. The machine is built up Envelope Bring back springs Felt way. A slow-burning rope twisted from waste is the ‘“‘lighter’ of the Stamping Two Thousand Letters an Italian cigar keeper the downward push of the handle. Thus the strip of stamps is automatically fed out to a point beneath the base of the handle-plunger and auto- matically cut off at the proper perforation just when it is affixed to the moistened envelope. The system of levers is brought back to its original position at each release of the handle by means of several The corner of the envelope is mois- tened with water fed from a tank through a_ wick, ending just above the envelope plat- form at the right of the plunger base. Then the handle presses the stampon small springs. A small rod attached to one of the levers of the system is made to move back and forth at each depression of the handle and to operate a register with a dial on the front of the machine, which dial indicates the number of stamps used. The stamp device. may also-be locked, so that no stamps can be removed. By means of the register, an accurate count of the number of stamps can be kept for any given time. To affix a stamp the corner of the envelope is shoved under a moistened wick. The handleis pressed down and then springs back automatically. t H i

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538 Popular Science Monthly A Houseboat of Marble Built to Amuse The Airplane to the Rescue of Storm- Chinese Royalty Tossed Mariners! HE most ORE beauti- than a ful and per- hurricane on haps the the high seas most costly houseboat in the world is the one illus- trated on this page. It is made entire- ly of marble and served to amuse the household of Chinese royalty. do sailors fear even sixty-mile gales near a rocky coast. To the life savers, also, a rocky coast is most dan- gerous. In any attempt of theirs to reach a ves- When the boat was built no one knows. It floated on a small lake within the precincts of the “Forbidden City’”’ in the last days of the Manchu dynasty. Re- cently it was removed to the national park in Pekin. “Do It Electrically’? Also Applies to the Up-to-Date Barber N electrically operated hair cutter which entirely eliminates the shears has been devised. It con- sists essentially of a light standard with cross-arms at the top to support a small electric motor connected with the clippers by a flexible cord three or four feet long. In cutting long hair the fingers and comb are used in exactly the same manner as with shears. In out- lining the hair in front the cutters are turned up- side down and the points pressed close to the skin; this produces a straight line without danger of cutting the skin. When the cutter is held in the same position and passed rapidly over the hair stray wisps are removed. The hair is cut in a fraction of the time us- ually required. The marble houseboat is exquisitely carved and has elab- orate trimmings of solid gold. with clippers instead of shears sel that is doomed, what is to keep their puny shell from being dashed upon the rocks? During the great storms off the coast of Maine, for instance, the It is enormous in size experienced guards well know the useless- ness of any attempt of reaching ships in rowboats. Rockets or cannons are brought into action immediately and with these the guards attempt to shoot lifelines out to the foundering vessel. With these lines, it is »/ often possible to carry ». the sailors off the vessel in ‘hawsers. Notwith- standing this admirable method, there are. times when the lines do not reach thesinking ship and crew. Rocket nor mortar is powerful enough to carry the heavy lines against the wind, far off the land. But shall we let the sailors perish, because of that? Not while there is a way out. And that way is with the airplane, the next great servant of man that is coming as soon as the world sees a righteous peace. The and sixty-mile gales will never prevent it from carry- ing a lifeline to the ship! The plan has already been worked out by the United States Coast Guard. airplane is a rider of winds,

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Throwing Out the Lifeline by Airplane 7S ence A wee 4 a — g —S --———— = — —_ ene

° Le Sailors on a schooner fear nothing so much as a storm off a rocky coast. Once the wind: carries them against a rock, the ship is lost! It is useless for the life guards to attempt to reach them; their only hope lies in a rocket or mortar which can shoot a lifeline to them. When these fail, the only hope of getting a line to the seamen, is with the airplane soe

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540 Popular Science Monthly The Bomb-Droppers Are Coming! Hug the Ground HIS is the advice which is being given to the school children of Sussex, England. They are being drilled daily in dropping suddenly face downward and re- maining perfectly Torpedoed! But the Cargo Floats Off Safely HE question of saving the cargo of food-stuffs on a torpedoed ship has received what seems to be a practical answer by W. G. Durant, of Jacksonville, Florida, who pro- motionless on the ground, just as our school chil- dren are put through the fire drill. The reason for the ground- hugging is not quite clear to us, unless it is to make the street appear deserted to the bomb- throwers in the air. Heretofore the people of Eng- land have been so careless in re- gard to their be- havior during an air raid that they have played into the hands of the raiders, so to speak, by flock- ing to the roofs of their houses and swarming the streets in order to get a poses to seal up the cargo in gal- vanized iron con- tainers which will float on the sur- face of the sea after the ship has sunk. His idea is not unlike that of Menotte Nanni, which was described in the March issue of the PoPpuULAR ScI- ENCE MONTHLY. Mr. Durant plans to make his air-tight con- tainers large enough to hold cargo weighing from two to fifteen tons. Each tank is to contain a com- pressed air cham- ber to afford the necessary buo}- ancy, and each is to be equipped with a hook and good view of them. This led to an official edict requiring all persons to get into and keep inside their houses or any available house when a bomb-dropper was reported in sight. If Your Eyes Are Weak Use a Less Brilliant Desk Light F you have a sense of faulty vision it is a natural inclination to seek a very strong light by which to read or study. This simply adds to the eye strain. The best light is an indirect, diffused light of sufficient strength to make the letters on the page stand out in uniform distinctness. Avoid the brilliant reflection from metallic objects that may be on the desk. School children of Sussex, England, in a ground- hugging drill to be practised during an air raid chain, so that.a large number of containers upon floating to the surface can be fastened to- gether and towed to land. The crew of the torpedoed vessel could use the floating containers as life rafts. So far as the destruction of the containers goes, it would not be practicable for a submarine to waste torpedoes on them. Of course a submarine could shell as many containers as it wished, but this would not continue for long with so many vessels patroling the barred zone. A feature of Mr. Durant’s plan which is more important than the containers themselves, is the ship which will carry them. The inventor does not favor the ordinary design of ship, but he suggests a ship without decks to enable the con- SOT AE lO mlOlClrmeeelC hDlCOCr COU

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——- we ae well Oe Popular Science Monthly The food cargo is carried in ‘air-tight, water-tight containers which float on the water when the ship goes down. Each tank contains a compressed-air chamber to provide buoyancy tainers to rise to the surface and with the engines and boilers located in the center and the cargo containers fore and aft. A ship so built that the containers could be placed in the hold, with the decks merely pinned over them, is also con- sidered. With such a ship the containers could easily force the decks upward when the inrushing water caused them to rise, and come to the surtace. They could float about on the water for days if neces- sary until salvaged.

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Popular Science Monthly — | ; - 4 | 4 © Underwood and Underwood A demonstration of what happens to an airplane wing which has not been coated with the fire-proofing liquid when a spark of fire comes in contact with it Protecting the Airplane with a Fire-Proof Coating NEW varnish or coating for airplane surfaces which makes them fire- proof has been introduced by W. R. , Weeks, of New York city, who is (E> interested in the treatment and Yee waterproofing of fabrics. Of late there have been a num- ber of so-called fire-proof paints and varnishes pro- posed for the airplane. Without exception they have proved worthless when sub- mitted to a rigid test. Furthermore, they have caused delay in turning out ma- chines, because a number of coats of the fire-proof paint had to be applied one coat after another after the usual paint- ing of the airplane was completed. The new coating manufactured by Mr. Weeks is conceded . to tages over others. In the first place, it can be applied by machine as well as by hand, and it requires much less time in drying than any other liquid of a similar character at present on the market. But in this as in other paints for the pur- pose, from six to ten coats are required to make an airplane proof against fire. The accompanying illus- tration shows what happens to the ordinary airplane wing uncoated with the fire-proofing liquid, when a spark ignites it. For the protection of aviators in air battles it is necessary that such hazards be mini- mized. A fire-proofed wing, if it caught fire, would burn so slowly that the aviator would have a - chance to descend. Forty-Three Bombs in a Freight Car Load of Scrap Iron Twelve of the forty-three bombs found in a freight car loaded with scrap material for a Chicago have several advan- foundry, and the man who discovered them damage. ORTY-THREE bombs hidden in a freight car loaded with scrap iron bound for the furnaces of a big foundry in Chicago, were discovered by the keen eyes of. Government agents recently. The discovery was made through the watch- fulness of George Mar- mann, the man shown in the photograph, who became suspicious when he noticed the round objects mixed with the scrap ma- terial. He told his superiors of the fact and they, in turn, communicated with the Department of Justice. A subse- quent examination of the bombs brought out the fact that there was enough explosive matter in each of them to blow up a half dozen foundries and do _ incalculable © Y, oat we 45 5 ab. oe Ul Lh CU [Ue oe tl OCU Cl et eeelC CellC Ml ef ae a oe ae eee ee | _—-@ hh a fH seh teat ~& abe ob ob oo -

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Pe ee ee WO tamwewewm™ °* eH ~~ oc = OH PD wo O ‘two years ago. . fraction of an inch too Popular Science Monthly The Rising Price of Auto- mobiles—Charge It to the War HE policy of automobile ei manufacturers of yearly reducing the price of their cars has received a severe jolt. With steel, copper and rubber going out of the country as they have, the rising cost of these materials promises to sweep the price of the cars up with them. Steel for forgings has gone up nearly three hundred per cent since the beginning of the war. Aluminum quota- tions are trebling those of Leather, copper and other finishing materials have advanced from twenty-five to one hun- dred per cent. Even the cost of the labor, the largest single item in the manufac- ture of a motor car, is con- siderably greater than it ever Sr a ee was before. The Overdriven Nail and the High Cost of Living NE wooden packing case is required with every twenty-four of the billions of cans that America uses in her canning industry each year. The expense of the cases, when everything is added up, is so great that packers are availing themselves of every invention or idea which promises to reduce it. One of the facts they have found out is the economy of properly adjusting the automatic case-nailing machines. When the strokes of these machines are even a Jong, the wood fibers are cut and the havoc is wrought which the ac- companying enlarged photograph well illus- trates. It seems a more economical plan to pay a workman to adjust the machine than to stand the expense of repairs. The framework into which the concrete is poured is a part of the permanent structure and hence need not be removed A Substitute for Forms in Concrete Roofs and Floors A pen necessity of erecting temporary wooden forms for concrete roofs and floors is avoided by the use of a metal sup- port which becomes a part of the permanent structure and which not only takes the place of reenforcing material but also helps carry the load. When the framework has been put up, large sheets of the metal work are laid over the supports and fastened; then the concrete is poured, the under side cement’ plas- tered, and the job is complete. Less time is required than with the ordinary forms. In addition there is less expense for labor and material, and the concrete work may be made lighter. The metal material may also be used for concrete work in other The havoc wrought by an overdriven construction than that of nail in the fibers of a packing case roofs and floors. , | } |

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544 An Iron Worker’s Steel Glove. As Flexible As Leather GLOVE which will give as much pro- tection to a man’s hands as a glove of ,rigid steel, yet which is as flexible as any glove of leather, has been de- veloped by a Western manufac- turer. It is not the-quality of the steel which is responsible for these properties; but it is the clever way the ribbon steel is interwoven in the leather. The steel rib- bons are woven across the ‘width of the glove so that the fingers can be It Is flexed in them with perfect ease. The ribbons _ being close woven, they afford foundrymen and me- chanics a perfect protec- tion from the sharp and ragged edges of iron pieces. Moreover, by bringing the stitches of the ribbons to the surface at every wear- ing point, the glove, rather than the hand, gets the rough usage. The steel stitches thus also protect the leather, so that the gloves will last indefinitely. Such a.glove will be found a boon in such work as sand blasting, in iron turning, iron grinding and chipping, and even in wceod working. The ‘‘Red Cross’’ for the Soldiers; the ‘*Red Star’’ for Their Steeds ITH the advent of the United States into the war, the American Red Star Animal Relief Association springs into prominence. It is an organization which does for the horses what the Red Cross does for the soldiers. The association has branches in most of the European countries and its work is authorized by the Secretary of War. Its main objects are to found veterinary hospitals and furnish veterinary attention and supplies wherever needed. It is pointed out by the organizers that the care and conservation of the animals used by the army is an important patriotic duty and will contribute directly to the success of the army operations. Steel ribbons are woven across the width of the glove Popular Science Monthly Inspecting the Six-Mile Gunnison Tunnel by Automobile OME time ago we printed an account of the inspection of a sewer by motorcycle, Now comes a description of a trip through the Gunnison tunnel by automobile. The trip was made by Fred D. Pyle, of the United States Reclamation Engineers, and its object was to inspect the work on the automatic gagesinthetunnel. Ordi- narily this work takes up an entire day, and entails a long hike with ladders and blue-prints galore, In the automobile all] the tediousness of the trip was eliminated, The car was lowered into the tunnel, and although the weather was sloppy the trip was made in sixty-five minutes notwithstanding engine trouble due to splashing water and dampness. It demonstrated the practi- cability of using the auto- mobile for inspection work and for transportation of supplies to gate tenders, The machine was turned without leav- ing the tunnel, so that a twelve-mile run was made under the mountain. This automobile made a twelve-mile inspec- tion round trip through the Gunnison Tunnel and back in sloppy weather without mishap —

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= mee Si Oh we we! . a, 7 omc . erus (FF G@ @ ™ me ee I Air Scouts Learn to Sketch Battlefields Instruction in making drawings which will show accu- rately the enemy’s positions, is given to every air scout _b OT ELE © Underwood and Underwood A class of airplane observers making sketches of an enemy’s battlefield of sand and sticks. Each man imagines himself to be flying a thousand feet above the battlefield in an airplane MAGINE yourself flying in an airplane a thousand feet over a battlefield, with instructions to make a drawing of what you see. You have but a minute or two to make your drawing, yet you must sketch in the enemy’s gun positions, his lines of trenches, his transport roads, and all details of military significance. Your sketch must be accurate, otherwise your batteries would waste valuable am- munition in shelling the enemy’s positions and perhaps the plans for an entire offensive would be upset. That, in brief, is one of the important duties of an airplane scout. To do this work faithfully and accurately the airplane observer must undergo a course of theoreti- cal and practical study. Before he takes his first flight he must be able to make sketches of improvised battlefields, one of which is shown in the accompanying illustration. The men in the picture are grouped about a make-believe battlefield of sand and sticks. Each man, in making his sketch, imagines himself to be a thousand feet or more in the air. His camp stool is his airplane and his pad his sketch sheet. If he fails to make an accurate sketch of the field below him, he is considered to be deficient in his ability to observe. It is seldom that he has a second chance to sketch the same field, for the sand and sticks are changed continually. Those of us interested in science, engineering, invention form a kind of guild. We should help one another. willing to answer questions. 54 The editor of The POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY is 5 2

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Our First Scouting Dirigibles We have copied the British ‘“‘Blimps.”’ Here the construction is explained HEN German submarines began to \ \/ render even the high seas danger- ous to shipping, England found herself in a very perilous position. To patrol the waters around England by small craft was the immediate remedy adopted. But the area to be covered was so vast that literally thousands of vessels would have been required. Air- planes were out of the question because they lacked the necessary endurance and because of the demands made on the pilot. It was clear that airships might answer, but England had only very small ones, slow Ballonet a suspension Air filled ballonet z. £ bas / {2 ce es ; = : Water att “Sight hole» \ Mir | {ten bs NP! es | ae 4 Patch for remodel ; AAA : a Seve borat ropes ot The gas envelope is much like that of other non- rigid dirigibles. As the vessel rises the gas expands and some of it escapes through a safety valve to prevent bursting. To preserve the shape when the gas contracts, ballonets are used, one in front and one in the rear, as explained on next page of bal lonet flying and very unhandy for the purpose, Some unknown genius hit upon the “Blimp” as a solution of the problem, England was building airplane bodies, or fuselages, as they are called, by the thou- sands—building them as we build auto- mobiles in this country. She was also producing hundreds of gas envelopes, Why not suspend an airplane fuselage from a gasbag? The question Was brilliantly answered by the “Blimp.” Envelope inflated with. hydrogen gas Rip Cord X y . oN \ Blower Kapok floats intake ler g: The Forty-Five-Mile-An-Hour “Blimp” Which Was Considered a Makeshift in the The gasbag is 160 feet long and 31% feet in diameter, with a capacity of 77,000 cubic feet of gas. . There is a standard 100-HP motor provided with duplicate controls so that the two passengers can run the ship alternately. Wheels are not needed under the car or fuselage. Even with more load than the gas can lift the vessel can be made to rise easily without a pre- liminary run on the ground, simply by pointing the nose up (through air trimming) and letting the propeller exert an upward thrust. The chief difficulty with all . 546 — |

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se, he u- [O- so es, m ‘ly the So little trouble was taken to adapt the airplane fuselage to the gas envelope that not even a motor-driven blower was pro- vided’ for the airbag in the first Blimps. Part of the airplane propeller’s slipstream, caught in a hose, sufficed. The hybrid “Blimp” has shown itself incredibly superior to anything in its own class.. It has a speed of forty-five miles an hour and a radius of action of several hundred miles. Its lift control approaches the seventy-mile-an-hour Zeppelin’s, be- cause the ‘“Blimp’s’”’ surface is relatively greater, compared with its weight, than a Zeppelin’s. Moreover, for the same speed the dirigible with a greater relative surface has more grip on the air in rising or descending by reason of the airplane effect of its gasbag than if it had a surface smaller in proportion to its weight. 7 Pressure relief valve ‘Ballonet SS elet ale Water trimming tanks Beginning Has Proved a Brilliant Invention And a Real Innovation in Dirigibles dirigibles is the erratic changing of the lifting force of the hydrogen gas with which they are inflated. When- ever the sun disappears, the gas cools and shrinks. When the vessel enters a cold stratum of air the gas shrinks, to expand again upon reaching a warmer Popular Science Monthly — - 547 The United States has also built “Blimps.”” The main original features of the American “‘Blimps’’ is the addition of a blower driven by a cycle-motor and of a second airbag or ballonet with valves to shift the air at will from bag to bag. As a result, the ship can be ‘‘trimmed” (that is, its flotation forward and aft can be varied at will by driving the gas where there is less air) even while it is at rest and the elevator or vertical rudder is powerless. The blast of the propeller will probably be used to inflate the ballonets, that being safer than a separate motor. There has been added an efficient device for anchoring the vessel safely in. a storm. The equivalent of life belts, in the form of kapok buoys are fastened above the airplane’s floats. Hence the entire craft can rest lightly on the water, supported by its gas. Enough water and sand ballast are carried to permit the craft to rise the better part of a mile; the safe altitude is given as one 1144 miles, but with the help of the powerful airplane action of: the craft Se itself this may be doubled. \s3 wiv i | ae | A ballonet is simply an air-bag within the main balloon. When the dirigible descends and the gas contracts the airbag is blown up with air by a little motor in the car below. Thus what buoyant gas remains is compressed; and made to restore the envelope to its normal shape layer. But even the old slow dirigibles could add or subtract much weight to or from their lift by reason of their airplane action. As this action increases proportionately with the square of the speed the fast dirigible of today compensates easily for such variations

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548 Potted Plants as a Part of a Plumber’s Equipment T often happens that plumbers are com- pelled to tear up sidewalks and streets, and otherwise muss things up in making repairs or pipe Popular Science Monthly trucks between that city and Boston, Mass., a round trip distance of 1,540 miles. The truck runs on a regular railroad schedule, carrying completed tires from Akron and taking back cotton tire fabric from the company’s cotton mills in Connecticut. Three round connections. 1. i Usually they are little concerned about the ap- pearance of the street during the repairing process. But R. H. Slay- ton, of Los Ange- les, California, is an artist at heart although a plumbing con- tractor by trade. When he is com- Cr+ SE ae trips have just been completed, the last in seven and one-half days. The truck used is a regular five-ton model. It is equipped with a special body having a closed-in driver’s cab with a sleep- ing compartment directly behind it and __ extending i, Ce ee ee pelled to tear up a street he puts a barricade of growing plants around the spot. This not only serves to shut off the sight of the piled- up dirt but diverts traffic. the other way. Delivering Tires by Motor-Truck from Akron to Boston NEW era in vehicular transportation has been inaugurated by one of the large tire companies of Akron, Ohio, which is now running a line of five-ton motor- These potted plants say with a graceful nod: ‘‘Go Repairs are in progress here”’ clear across the frame from one side to the other, This is used for sleeping quarters by the two drivers, who work in relays. : It might be supposed that sleeping on a motor truck would be difficult and very un- comfortable, but the giant pneumatic tires provide a wonderful cushioning effect that makes the truck ride almost as comfortably as a passenger car. The truck load is carried in a stake body aft of the cab and is covered with canvas to protect the goods in inclement weather. One of the five-ton motor-trucks now running regularly between Akron, Ohio, and Boston, Mass., carrying completed tires from Akron and taking back cotton tire fabrics from the company’s mills wIneee, =¥- ST EI SPA: La Ke RRR CRE

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or STN RR Wintel iit nia Adit kane Totnes PEPE HEN Traveling curtains, like moving pictures, attract the attention of the passerby to the continuous story HE very latest mode of advertising is a glass-sided &; and ended motor truck from which are flashed at fifteen-second intervals the advertisements of ten well- known products. The fleet of trucks run over the most crowded of New York streets from noon to midnight, each carrying its advertising mes- sage to the thousands of pedestrians instead of mak- ing them travel to the signs. Not only this, but the truck advertisements are almost at the level of the pedes- trian’s eyes. It is unneces- sary to twist your neck into a serpentine knot to gaze heaven- ward at the latest forms of sky signs. The truck advertisements are painted on transparent curtains which are hung within the body and which show through the glass sides by day as well as by night, for after dark they are illuminated by means of banks, or trays, of lights. Each curtain appears first on one side, then at the rear end and finally on the other side, the change from one advertisement to another being made when the interior illumination is automatically shut off tem- porarily. ‘The appearance and disappear- Advertising By Motor-Truck storage battery inside the truck body. matically so that each is even with the glass during the fifteen-second stopping period while the truck is in motion. current for operating the curtain motor is continually being recharged through a special charging generator driven off the regular vehicle engine ride Plan of the Advertising Motor-Truck Ten transparent curtains are arranged on guide rollers so that three are con- tinually in view, one on each of the two sides and oneontheend. The curtains are hung from a continuous steel cable which is made to travel over the grooved guides by means of a motor driven by current taken from a The curtains are stopped auto- The storage battery furnishing the ance of the curtains are intended to arouse the curiosity and incite the interest of ‘the pedestrian or vehicle passenger as to the nature of the next one to appear. The arrangement of the curtains is such that the advertisement which is shown on one side of the truck body is carried immediately to the back and later on to the other side, so that: although the person on the street sees a constantly changing surface, the same pictures serve over and over again. The curtains are hung on a continuous steel cable which is made to travel over the grooved guides -by means of a motor driven by current taken from a storage bat- Curtain Electri Transparent guide a ectric t : : acs lights cur wae Plate gloss, river \\ Storage a battery 4 \ Worm gear and cam Diagram of the Mechanism The arrows indicate the direction of the curtains each of which ap- pears first on one side and then on the opposite side in rapid suc- cession. The curtains are actuated by an electric motor which drives a vertical shaft by means of a system of gearing. The stopping period of each curtain and the moving time when each is replaced by the one following after is governed by a special cam device 549 Wires from storage battery =" tery carried inside the truck body. Curtain This electric motor operates a Adie vertical shaft by means of a — system of gearing. The stop- ping period of each curtain and L the moving time, when it is d replaced by the one immediately Gearing following, depend upon the auto- matic action of a special cam device. The storage battery which furnishes the current for the motor operating the curtain is continually recharged from a special charging generator driven off the regular vehicle engine. At night especially the illum- inated truck attracts attention.

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Photographing the Jolts of an Automobile How you can tell what shock- absorber is most efficient One of the Many Records Obtained The two top lines are made by the lights worn by the passengers and show the jolts to which those in the front and rear seats were subjected; the lower four lines show the movement of the car when overriding facturers of shock absorbers, tires, and springs claims that the applica- tion of his particular device to the auto- mobile will give the greatest possible ease of riding. Now comes Mr. W. C. Keys, an experimental engineer, with a method of visibly recording the effect of jolts on a car and of ascertaining to what extent shocks are absorbed. Electric lights are mounted on the front and rear hubs, the front and rear fenders and on the passengers. The lights are turned on, and the car is driven at night across the field of a camera. The record obtained shows accurately the path of travel of every critical part of the BE ecctu: one of the hundred odd manu- an obstruction. It is evident that the passenger in the rear seat is thrown up and down more violently than the passenger in the front seat, and that the passengers are tossed up more than the car itself car as well as of the passengers. Study the photographic record which appears on this page. The two top lines are made by the lights worn by the passengers, the topmost line representing the passenger in the rear seat and the one immediately below it rep- resenting the passenger in the front seat. The other lines are made by lights fastened on the car. The four lower and straighter lines rep- resent the riding qualities of the springs and tires. The two top lines sum up the riding qualities of the car and show the effect of the passengers’ position in relation to the axles, of the trimming of the seat cushions, of the flexibility of the frame, etc., in addi- tion to the effect of the tires and of the The Disposition of the Lights Lights were attached to the car on the hubs, on the fenders, on the body, and on the passengers as here 559 shown. Beneath the car appears the obstruction which the car had to override in making the experiments . ——_ PER a At ER RT A 0 sae SSE TSS TTS TOE aS * rey SE PTO GE ME Oe

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‘ee’ ES TERE, ra 2 OF ea, ENO LE Es oR springs. It is evident that the passengers are tossed up and down for greater dis- tances than the car itself when an obstruc- tion is overridden. The records seem to show that on the whole the passenger in the rear seat is better off than the man in the front seat. The man in front gets two jolts for each bump, first when the front wheels pass over the obstruction, and second, when the rear eels pass over it. — the other hand, it is evident that the passenger in the rear seat, represented by the top line, is jolted once only by the ob- struction, the wave in the line showing the spring action. It is clear that the passenger in the rear seat is thrown up appreciably higher than the passenger in the front seat. At last it becomes possible to analyze exactly the performances of different auto- mobiles, or of the same automobile, with variations in such accessories as the leaf- springs, cushion-springs, inflation pressure of the tires, shock absorbers, stiffness of the frame, weight of the axles, etc. So that the unproved statements of the manufac- turers need no longer be all that accom- pany such appliances. What’s This? A Popular Science Monthly The skull is made of paper and was used by Army Medical Students for anatomical study The Army Medical Museum’s Giant Skull c~ PARED with the man standing be- side it, the huge skull shown in the accompanying photograph would appear to’ have belonged to a person about’ thirty feet high and to be reminiscent of the times when Mosque? No, Just a Flag- man’s Shelter FLAGMAN’S shelter house, made up of old loco- motive parts, guards a street crossing on the Southern Pa- cific at San José, Cal. The shelter was constructed by the consulting engi- neer from old engine wheels, springs, tires and other parts of discarded locomo- tives. Besides being an oddity in appear- ance, it is solidly built and one of the most elaborate shelters for flagmen “There were giants in those days.” ' As a matter of fact, it is not’a real skull, but a papier mache representation of one, a little over four feet high. It stands in the Army Medical Museum at Washington, and was greatly exag- gerated for pur- poses of anatomical study. The skull is per- fect in every detail. The students study not only the con- struction of the hu- man skull but meth- ods of trepanning and of mending all the different varie- ties of fractures. It in the state. It is the curiosity of the locality. Ah, yes, a little Mosque where pious Moham- medans may pray. San José knows better. It is a flagman’s shelter made of old scrap is also used in in- structing the classes in dental surgery.

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Housekeeping Made Easy Below: A strip of lead ribbon about one inch wide, bent so that it will hold flowers upright in a shallow bowl filled with water. Itis used for table deco- ration and is in- tended for small, short - stemmed cut flowers Below: An egg poacher that takes care of two eggs at a time. A slide bottom makes it possi- ble tolifttheeggs out of the water and drop them directly on the prepared toast without spoiling their shape { A convenient indoor clothes-dryer. It is suspended from the ceiling by ropes and pulleys so that it may be lowered to within easy reach and then drawn up again to the ceiling where the clothes are out of the way and where the warmest air is encountered A chair seat with a cushioned coiled spring picture hanger has three points of suspension This non - tilt | Se: An electric iron with a This electric student’s A registering disk for the hinge joint which keeps lamp has a = miniature nickel - in - the - slot tele- . the pipe out of the way cabinet as its base holding phone. It checks the ' SE es senl A oe ——. meas otal aoe ona i — ._ 552

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Housekeeping Made Easy sh X: Acabinet for the small phono- graph. It has the appearance of the _ high- priced machines. The phonograph may be taken out on the lawn or on picnics or to the summer camp, and re- turned to the cabinet for home use By merely lifting this door-knob in the manner shown, you lock the door, the key arrangement being integral with the knob and the brass door-plate At last! A jar cap which can be removed without loss of time and temper. When the convex | top is depressed the edge springs out from the glass shoulder With this arrange- ment you can have. a drop light and a fan operated from the same _ socket Below: A mop for dish- washing. It has a hose attachment to the faucet over Sink WOES Utilities disguised as ornaments. draperies is the mucilage pot; beside her are a carved wood twine-holder and a holder for buttonhooks 553 Under the doll’s A mattress made up of three pads which may be used separately upon occasion, as when an un- expected guest must be made comfortable on a couch. The top pad may be taken out and left to air without any inconvenience

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554 Popular Science Monthly Loading Trucks Without Disturbing Sidewalk Traffic N order to save many steps between their wagons and the loading platform, the truckmen have a habit of backing their vehicles against the shipping platform or against the curb-stone and spanning the intervening Even a Battleship Would Sink If It Were Not Cleaned tye of our big warships was brought into dock the other day for a cleaning, Two hundred men worked all day scraping off six hundred tons of animal and plant growth from its sides and bottom. This tremendous sidewalk with a board or chute. The result in either case is that you and all the other pe- destrians, find- ing your path blocked, must leave the side- walk and either walk out into the gutter and around the truck and horses, or climb up a few steps quantity of sea life had ac- cumulated in ‘less than two years, durin which time the ship had trav- eled many thousand miles, The weight of the barnacles was so great that from twenty-five to forty per cent extra coal was consumed in to the level of the loading platform and down a few steps on the other side. All of which saves steps and much hard work for the truckmen, but makes the lot of the pedestrian unhappy. Someone who is evidently thoughtful has recently devised a loading chute which is now being used by a New York city firm. This chute, as will be noted in the accompanying illustration, is supported by a form of tripod at a distance above the sidewalk sufficient to clear the tallest pedestrian, who can pass under it without discom- fort of any kind. Meanwhile the chute, having a suff- cient slant, allows for cases to be placed at one end and slid down by the force of gravity to the truckmen ready to receive them. The tripod is hinged to the chute, so that it may be folded against it for the sake of compactness. This is an important fea- ture, since the chute is not a permanent structure but is erected only at such times as the trucks are loading or unloading. The cases are placed on the chute and slide down by gravity to the men on the waiting truck aS ss, which he carries his pigeons. In Paris ‘A dispatch bearer and his pigeon, which he carries in a special basket to the place from which the bird is sent maintaining the vessel’s speed. The Carrier Pigeon Still Holds Its Own as Trusted Messenger ESPITE the convenience of the tele- graph and wireless, carrier pigeons are still used to a great extent in sections of the war zones where the. telegraph and wireless are not available. The accompanying photograph was made in Salonica, and shows a dispatch bearer and the special basket in there are numbers of the birds in training. © Underwood and Underwood DEARTH Ben POACIER OR a a a a ee a a! ee a ae ae eh —_—t ~~ fa COU COU’ ete lCUCOUlClC MO CU CLC ee a a a = — — a a, i ik a

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4 You’ll Be Blown Up “T)OOBY traps,” as the British call them, B are dummy soldiers containing a large amount of high explosive. They are death traps set by the Germans for their Scientifically and painstakingly enemies. constructed, the dummy shown would have blown to pieces anyone who touched it. Fortunately the British “smelled a - rat.” They would not touch it. Careful in- vestigation proved that it was noth- ing more than @ cleverly- contrived bomb. A descrip- tion of the dummy which reached this country does not contain an explanation of how it could have been ex- ploded. The British _re- ports have not de- scribed its internal organism. Conjectures Some believe that a_ fall resulting from the slightest jolt would are many. Popular Science Monthly Shoot or Stab This Dummy, and 555 The By-Products of the Grapefruit Obtained from the Culls unless utilized to obtain the * Topant ¥ The death-trap left by the Germans in a locality they were compelled to evacuate. have caused the explosion. The figure contained high explosives fruit desserts. ye the fruit-grower has marketed his finest and best specimens of grapefruit there are likely to remain many inferior specimens which would be wasted by-products. These by- products have been found to be numerous. Citric acid is obtained in great quan- tities from the culls, es- pecially from the early winter fruit. Sugar is obtained at the rate of about 4.4 per cent in the early winter fruit and 8.5 per cent in the spring fruit. The peel yields about 2.1 per cent of recover- able oil. A good yield of pectin is also obtained _from the skins. This is a grayish- yellow flaky mass re- sembling sugar in appearance which stiffens on standing in water to a clear, tasteless jelly and is used as the basis of many kinds of YOU NEED BOOKS IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED You can’t get on in the world unless you read—read the books which will make you more valuable to those for whom you work. You don’t have to go to college. never went to college. country. Edison But he has probably the finest library of technical books in this If you want: helpful, practical books on any subject, write for POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY’S new BOOK CATALOGUE. The books described in it have been carefully selected by experts. Write today for the new book catalogue. It’s free. Popular Science Monthly, 239 Fourth Avenue, New York City.

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eee Bao * SOE at 2 niin { { { i i t One-Piece Ships of Stone Already a company has been formed and financed to design and build concrete ships of 4,500-ton capacity By Joseph Brinker Broadside view of 550- ton enanine fais snell i Arundel Sand and nacnil “neem of dine. Md. This picture was taken just before the barge was launched. The barge has been in use for several years They may be built in addition to steel and wood vessels: to offset the acute submarine peril. According to au- thorities, the German U-boats are sinking Allied and neutral tonnage much faster than it can be renewed. This cannot go on. If it does, we shall lose the war. Even our Government-controlled shipbuilding program for steel and wooden ships will not produce sufficient tonnage to offset the present U-boat toll unless this tonnage is greatly. increased by the use of some new substance. Concrete seems to be this sub- stance. Already a large com- pany has been formed and financed in San Francisco to design and build sea-go- ing vessels of 4,500-ton ca- pacity to be made of re- enforced concrete. Plans now drawn up show these vessels to be three-hundred feet long, with a beam of forty-six feet and a draft of twenty-four feet. The con- crete hull is to be six inches thick and the steel re-enforc- ing rods are to be welded together to reduce the quan- tity of steel required to a minimum by avoiding the waste from laps and bolting otherwise necessary. ees nis ships are possibilities. wood ship and that the completed hull will weigh less than that of a wood boat of the same carrying capacity. Allan Mc- Donald, the designer of the ship, estimates that it can be built in ninety days and that turbine engines of two thousand five- hundred horsepower will be sufficient to drive her at a speed of fourteen knots, which is considered enough to enable a boat to escape a submarine under ordinary conditions. There is no question about the avail- ability of the concreting materials and that The Mid-Ship Section of a Concrete Boat It has been calculated It would be made up of light “en icamework with vice sesenforcing on the sides. Th al ; concrete covering is shot into place by compressed Air. e bottom of the vessel is that the steel re enforcing for cast in forms in the usual way. Poured concrete has much less density than that shot the vessel will weigh less apt place — is re —, — — — _— ~~ — — epee A = : is shown cut out of the boat from lower deck to lower in order to indicate the than the bolts needed in a position of the steel re-enforcing rods placed longitudinally through the framework 556 aannaearsdoennnnnn sd co —e a a a ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ee. ae ed pent

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Te eee ee ee ee eS ee Se EEE Popular Science Monthly 557 the use of artificial stone opens up a new and enterprise must be brought to bear avenue to the increased production of and problems peculiar to concrete con- ships. Even with plans drawn, however, the _ struction solved. actual building of such a a large concrete vessel P The Concrete Vessel Is Not New and its practicability after it is built, are entirely different matters. While every one knows of concrete’s adapt- ability to almost any form because it is handled in a plastic or semi-fluid state; of its fire- proofness; of its general use in large office buildings, in in Shipbuilding Concrete vessels have been built in the past. But they have been small barges or the like for inland water work, with but one or two exceptions. Yne of these is a three-thousand-ton concrete vessel now under course of con- struction in Moss, Norway. She is ex- private residences, ee =a mm pected to be deliv- in bridges, docks, + a Integral keel ered to her owners sidewalks and. in = Sas : practically all me" ballast or fuel oil branches of con- n for water A Typical Concrete Cargo Boat by the time this arti- cle appears in print. The first concrete struction, there is It has two decks, a double bottom for ballast or fuel, b oat really dates yet much to be and a double hull between the lower deck and the back to 1849, when b 1 | double bottom. This gives greater strength. The M Lz b f done y naval arcn- well te principles concrete building construction . Lambot, o : ; are. indicated in the form of the hull members and ~ a eCac Tee itects and marine the method of distribution of the steel re-enforcing Carces, F rance, engineers before the built a small ten- five-thousand-ton concrete sea-going vessel foot rowboat of re-enforced concrete. is a practical, commercial certainty. This While the boat and its method of does not mean that such a ship is an im- construction were investigated by the possibility but that American ingenuity French Government, the vessel was evi- How the Concrete Hull Will Be Made Imagine this man standing on the scaffolding alongside a ship, and you will get an idea of how the three layers of the hull are shot into place by compressed air. The man shown here is building up a some- what similar concrete slab on metal lathing to form the outer wall of a sewerage disposal plant. The cement is shot through a hose dently far in advance -of .its time, and its further develop- ment was left in private hands: Almost fifty years later, or in 1899, Carlo Gabellini, of Rome, Italy,- built several concrete scows and barges, one of the latter a one-hundred -fifty-ton vessel for the city of Civita Vecchia. Meantime, small eleven-ton concrete barges had been built in Holland in 1887, and later, a two - hundred - twenty-ton freight barge in 1909 by German shipbuilders at Frankfort - on - the- Main. In 1910 a similar concrete barge was built for use on the Welland Canal, Canada, while in IgII, ‘barges or pontoons made of concrete were successfully built and employed in work at the Panama Canal. In 1912, Oscar F. Lackey, then harbor engineer of Baltimore, Md., built severz| five-hundred-ton barges, one of

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i i A i iB ! H | 558 which is shown in the illustra- tion on page 556 of this This has been in use for more than four issue. years and is still giv- ing satisfactory service. Advantages of Concrete Ships Re-enforced con- crete barges seem to have given good service, so that the present problem oi -building self-pro- pelled ships of four- or five-thousand tons capacity is one of construction methods and of tak- ing care of the severe strains of ocean travel and the vibra- tion of the engines. These conditions met, concrete has many advantages not enjoyed by either wood or steel. Concrete ships would be fireproof and would require less main- Popular Science Monthly (ier tical holding rods Ay ‘2 i Spacer bar o a , ¢ ¢ 7 ee Cee omen LE s Holes fo for wirellt The Cement-Gun Rod Re-enforcement The T-bars used in the side of the concrete ship are made by shooting the material into place.. The spacer bars have holes through which are inserted short rods with hooks to carry the horizontal bars on which the three layers of re-enforcing wires are hung. By this means the wire is kept always in its proper relation building work, and tenance than steel vessels because of the elimination of scraping and painting to avoid deteri- oration due to rusting. Also, their bottoms would need to be cleaned less often be- cause sea growths do not attach themselves so readily to concrete as to steel and wood. Some advocates of the concrete vessel claim that it can be built at less cost than a ship of steel or wood, that it has a Outside of barge Transverse Section Through Deck and Part of Hatch Above we have a good illustration of the man- ner in which the con- struction of the concrete boats will follow the usual methods of con- crete building in regard to re-enforcing. Note the wood bumper stringer bolted to the . *4 concrete hull to ward off collisions, which might tend to crack the concreteand causea leak longer life than either and that less skilled labor is re. quired. While this may be true in the case of small barges and the like on which actual cost figures are available, it remains to be proved in the case of the large ocean- going freighter. The standardized cargo beat of either stéel or wood as planned by our Shipping Board will be built in much less time than any other ships constructed hereto- fore. Following previ- ous re-enforced con- crete construction methods, the pro posed concrete ves- sels may be built along two general lines—one by the use of forms, as in most the other by the Hatch coaming. | ‘it Soom knee re-enfor r “ cing codon a css A Simple Con- crete Barge © Below: Note the single side hull and double bottom construction; also the form of the three vertical deck sup “SiSTSFsSsesStT ports and the beams H Longitudinal steel re-enforcing rods Bearknees ¥ ; inside of barge,|| 4 e Lo tudes} , 3 shel ee x he UL ot aR SIRT ES SP — - mee 45 ot OS let a -rA ARO = | | idiatenl —_ —> = mic mee meee FF Ot —= ©&§ ~- .)f st mee eng Me

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an > = re his es On ost le, ase an- “he &rg0 eel ned ng uilt ime \ips 2tO- eVi- ion orO- ves- uilt eral 10st the Con- ge e the ll and stom iso » three . sup. beams _ . - s eI plastering-like method in which a very dense but fluid mixture of cement is shot into place by means of compressed air. The former type is the most common and may be made with or without double-bottoms, or with single or dual hulls separated by an air space which may or may not be employed to carry fuel or water ballast. Both types of con- struction are shown in the accompanying rspective and de- tailed sketches. How the Ships Will Be Built The method by paige which the concrete is shot into place by means of compressed air as advocated by at different Popular Science Monthly Joining of layers applied times 559 is an important advantage because of the first cost of the forms; their difficulty of construction due to the unusual shapes at the extreme front and rear ends of the vessel and the cost of setting up the forms and moving them from point to point on the vessel after they have been re- moved from sections already poured and hardened. The advocates of the pouring method have planned to over- pacer bar re ortside = come =the difficulty ‘e and cost of moving - the forms by devising Gv a cheap, steel frame- work both inside and outside of the vessel along which the forms may be pushed with- out lowering them to the ground. Unusual-shaped Vertical mesh rholding rods a 5 ; Spacer bar Carl Weber, a con- 7 a : ea? forms for the forward : f ie ad Boks ; Tratsverse section r dank the crete engineer oO Se EN OTe ES ST ARE ethrGugh concrete andrear endsof theves- Chicago, is really an adaptation of the “cement gun’’ process previously described in the PoPULAR SCI- ENCE MontHLy. This method makes use of a light steel frame- work for the vessel. attached aseries of re-enforcing rods carry- ing wire mesh. or other flexible re-enforcing, each of which is in turn covered by thin ~ 18 layer _. layers of concrete forced against one another in the applying so that the whole is a ho- mogeneous mass of ‘such a nature that the line of joining one layer with the next cannot be detected if the slab is cut across. The details of all of these methods are shown in the ac- a hu 2Mayer 3'and last layer A Section Through the Side The T-irons, spacer bars, hooked rods and wire mesh of a shot-into-place concrete boat are shown. three vertical lines between the ragged lines indicating the wire mesh show roughly the thickness of each layer To this framework are - sel may be provided by the use of collapsi- ble steel forms such as are used in bridge culvert work. The Clang! Clang! Make Way for the Chinese Ambulance (ye of the reasons why the people of the Occident are generally disposed to agree with Bret Hart that ‘the heathen Chinee is peculiar’’ is the unusual method of the Chinese in handling the sick. Notice the ambulance in the photograph, in which a dying man is being transported. It is of wicker basketry of the same type as that used for companying il- lustrations. The great ad- vantage of the compressed-air method of shoot- ing the concrete inty place, is that it eliminates al- most one-half of the wood or steel forms necessary if the ordinary conveying pigs and poultry to market. Crude as this type of convey- ance seems, no rubber-tired automobile could travel with less jolting. The car- riers work in re- lays, goingslowly, with a kind of pouring method is pursued. This The Chinese ambulance. veyance in which pigs are taken to market swing, and rest- It is just like the con- : : ing at intervals.

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Brake shoe Street level 4 Lifting a Car to Stop It A brake which raises the rear wheels clear off the ground. Of course the car has to stop Two flat semi-circular steel shoes placed between the body of the car and the inside of the rear wheel on each side, are pushed down by a lever in such a manner as to lift the rear wheels N unusual type of automobile emer- gency brake stops the car by lifting the rear or power wheels clear off the ground. It consists of two flat semi-circular steel shoes thick at the top and tapering off at the bottom. These are placed be- tween the body of the car and the inside of the rear wheel on each side. A toothed rack is cut along each edge of the upper side of the shoe, the rack-teeth respectively meshing with the teeth of two ordinary spur-gears slipped loosely over the rear-axle housing and provided with cam-shaped clutches on their facing sides. A collar with reverse cam-shaped clutches is rigidly attached to the axle between each of the two spur gears. Two rollers carried on studs attached to the vehicle frame are employed to contact with the under or bottom side of each steel shoe and keep the racks on its upper face always in mesh with the two loose spur gears. Either one of the spur gears may be rigidly attached to the turning rear axle by sliding .it into contact with the clutch collar. The rotation of the collar revolves the gear in contact with it so that it causes the shoe to be moved down into contact with the ground and lift the rear wheel ’ clear off the road. The friction between the shoe and the ground causes the vehicle to come to a gradual stop without the shock incident to the operation of the 560 conventional band brake. When the shoe has been lowered the specified distance, further downward motion is prevented by the teeth of the gear running off those on the rack, the thicker section at the top of the shoe serving as a wedge to hold it in that position. The lowering of the car-wheels on the ground after a stop, is accomplished by unclutching the first gear from the axle collar and clutching the other one. The samie direction of rotation of the axle is made to lift the shoe up off the ground by means of a small gear interposed between the gear in clutch and the rack teeth. The clutching of either gear with the collar between is secured by means of a longitudinal lever with a double-acting bell crank and pedal on the floorboard of the driver’s cab. Two pedals and two levers are employed, one for each set of loose gears. One pedal is made to suffice for the similar-sized gears on each side of the car by means of a crosswise equalizer at the rear as shown. This assures simultaneous action by each shoe. Obviously the automobile will come toa comparatively short stop upon the appli- cation of the brake and will not be likely to skid or slide even on a steep grade as long as the steel shoes remain on the ground in their braking position. Aran ——_ Mt ms lo, ll melCUreke,llCUMk,lteke, oKklCUKlCOUeet CO a _ -_, ae

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Like a Spider earns the title of genius by transplanting into action what others regard as impossi- | ble or lack the perseverance to carry through. Seemingly this is what fate has in store for W. Carnys Zimmerman, of Chicago, the architect of the new state penitentiary in course of erection near Joliet, Illinois, which is not only built | along new lines but is the last (Saree die somebody eee ee word in prison construction. Jeremy Bentham was the first man who seems to have realized that the consequences of imprisonment should be calculated both in their effect on the con- oe vict and on society. More than a century Ce ago he profosed that the conventional by prison building with its long tiers of cells on invisible to the guard except when he of walked in front of them, was well calculated in | to defeat its own purpose, and that a cir- cular cell-house, with the guard stationed he _ in the center where he could see the by * interior of each cell, would xde be better. _ Attempts ‘he . have been made in is England to by carry out en the fa ing of ed, Bentham’s dal idea, but it re- ed mained for Mr. of Zimmerman to work vn. out the idea perfectly in ach the new Joliet. buildings, now 1 nearly ready for occupation. oa Throughout the group of buildings, oli- ease of administration has been a cardinal ely principle. The most radical departure from as the conventional style is the shape of the the | cell houses. The 248 cells are arranged in four tiers around the periphery of the structure, while a guard is stationed in a 561 in His Web So the guard sits in one of the new circular cell houses of Joliet Prison. He can keep watch over two hundred and forty-eight cells By Fred Telford cage in the center of each cell house. Thus he can see into any cell on any tier at any time without, taking a step. As the guard’s own room is in darkness, no prisoner can ever be sure that he is not under direct observation. With the old straight row of cells, the prisoner could be observed only while the guard was pass- ing his cell; moreover, the guard’s approaching footsteps were an audible warning to a vigilant prisoner. The same idea is carried a step further in the grouping of the eight circular cell houses about a circular dining-room, with a covered corridor leading directly from each cell house to the part of the dining-room to be occupied by the prison- ers from that building. Thus all crossing of columns is eliminated, and in effect each cell house is a unit for eat- ing and lodging pur- poses. The The general plan of the prison buildings, all of which are con- nected by means of corridors with the dining-room, so that all cross- ing of columns is eliminated accompanying drawing shows clearly the general plan of the prison colony. At the same time, economies are ef- fected by preparing food in a central

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Popular Science Monthly Dou At P| OWT a a ee at ae =} ate Mee 0 vk ee : a H —azy The cells are arranged in four tiers around the periphery of the structure, while the guard is stationed in a cage in the center where he can look into any cell on any tier at any time station, as the kitchen, bakery, and store rooms for food are situated in the spaces between corridors. Two large workrooms are placed far in the rear, but are also connected with the dining-room by a corridor. Warehouses for the storage of raw material and manu- factured products are just in the rear of the workrooms. At one side is the chapel, with a stage, a large auditorium, and separate rooms for those of Catholic and Jewish faith. Opposite the chapel is the hospital, with special wards for those suffer- ing from tuberculosis and contagious dis- eases. The laundry and shower baths are in a separate building at the left. Outside the enclosure are the residences of the ward- en and his deputy, while between corridors leading from the cell houses to the dining- room are houses for the guards and private dining-rooms. A cardinal principle recognized by the architect was that while the state has the right to confine those who violate the laws, and can in fact protect itself in no other way, yet the prisoner’s right to comfort, sunlight, air, and the other neces- sities for health is inalienable. Conse- quently, much attention was given to sanitation in the buildings. Fortunateiy the circular construction makes possible many sanitary features not possible in

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CHL To any other style of" prison architecture. The most striking sanitary feature is the lighting. Each cell, being on the per- iphery of the building, has an outside window; in addition, by means of a sky- light and refracting glasses, direct sunlight reaches every cell every clear day. The small height in comparison with the diam- eter—each cell-house is 150 feet in diameter —makes little refraction necessary, even for direct sunlight to reach the cells on the north side on the lower floor. It is expected that on clear days each cell will have at least two hours of direct sunlight on short winter days, | The circular construction makes excellent lighting possible. aay al Popular Science Monthly 563 ture of seventy degrees in the cells when the outside temperature is ten below zero. A radiator is placed in each cell. There is also a lavatory and water-closet for each cell, with running water. Although ease of administration and sanitation have been given great attention, there has been no neglect of the primary purpose of the buildings—to confine pris- oners. In fact, the close observation made possible by the circular arrangement, the elaborate construction to prevent egress at the windows, and the front and doors of glazed steel make escape wee all but hopeless. “Ye — Each cell has an outside window and gets the benefit of the skylight. The guard enters his cage through an underground passage so there are no resounding footsteps to warn the prisoners when he is approaching or leaving Fresh air is furnished through ducts in the triangular shaft between each pair of cells. Air is drawn from the outside over blast heating-coils and through a water spray washer; it then passes directly to each cell in the building. As each cell is really an individual room, the air leaves through the transom over the door and is forced out through the central space and into the open air through an opening in the skylight. Inthe usual prison the cells are supplied from the foul air in the corridors. Of course the windows, opening on the outside, may be used for supple- mentary ventilation. The heating system, which is entirely independent of the ventilating system, is sufficient to maintain a uniform tempera- The plan of construction is, in its way, as remarkable as the plan of the buildings. All the work is done by honor prisoners working under the direction of a general superintendent and a foreman chosen by civil service examinations. Although tke new buildings are outside the old prison- walls and the men are unguarded, not one attempted to escape at the time of a recent outbreak in the penitentiary prorer. The work has been considerably delayed because the number of honor men has not been as large as was planned for. Though the general plan marks a radical departure from the old style prison, there seems to be little doubt that it will be widely copied by other states when new con- struction work of this kind is undertaken.

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564 The Massaging Chair. Sit in It and Let Two Rollers Knead Your Spine Y means of a chair that has recently been invented by Halbert L. Hoard, of Fort Atkinson, Wis- my ten consin, a person suffer- ing from spinal trouble or from any of the nu- merous complaints due to ‘‘nerves,”’ is enabled to perform the hard rubber rollers are pressed against your back by strong springs attached to the roller carriage. By moving a pair of handles up and down, the rollers are similarly moved up and down, the springs keeping them pressing uniformly against your back. With every stroke, the circula- tion through the blood vessels is increased, and unquestionably, some good is attained. How One Furnace Can Save a Big Slice of the Country’s Coal Bills ULLY one fourth of the coal used in heating our country’s homes is wasted, simply because the average furnace is not properly designed to burn the highly combustible gases that are contained in the coal. The great- est part of our country’s coal supply is what is called bitumi- nous, or soft coal, which contains on an average forty-five per cent * of highly combustible gases which in themselves form a large por- tion of the heat value of the coal. Gases are distilled from the coal at low temperatures and must be thoroughly mixed with a sufficient supply of air and raised to the proper temperature before com- plete combustion takes place. In other words, prevent the gases from escaping before complete Popular Science Monthly Wart 4 air and coal gas combustion has taken place—that is the solution of the problem. This idea has been carried out in gq | furnace, the boiler and foundation of which differ not at all from those of other furnaces, except that the grate has the proper air. inf is admitted to burn ig Ja all of the gases completely. As the air erters ae through the hot bed of coal between the grate and the lower extremities of an space area so that the | proper amount of air | AREER ILE Ty otherwise dif- under the | ficult task of grate and _ Massaging penetrates . thebackand upward especially through the the spinal incandes. | column cent coals or | without the hot bed, it | assistance of mixes _thor- ns | oe" The massaging rollers, pressed in by strong springs, are oe ‘ moved up and down against the spine by means of the handles number of and all pass SERENE Or, SA ROA temas arch. The arch is directly over the hottest | part of the fuel bed, hence, the gases are | liberated immediately back of the arch | at the highest possible temperature and come in contact with the heating surface of the boiler after complete combustion has taken place. Thus all the available heat is expended directly upon the boilers, almost none of it escaping up the chim- ney or out into the room. Since all the carbon burns, no soot will collect on the fire tubes. Thus still another saving results from the keeping of the tubes free from this heat-insulating substance. Red-hot bricka rch Gasesfrom fire tubes ~ arch-heated gases begin here to burn The grate has the proper air-space area into which suffi-. . cient air is admitted to burn all gases thoroughly ONS OLS ae ee a LL a a a ae a ee a a ee a. ay fs bee ae Gee 6lCU CO ee fee a | |6ee

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of the air. the i air | umn | ses | ters | the § tes rd the es- S Or _ it 10r- vith ses ass the test are rch and face tion able ers, im- will ther ibes mney She 9 SO RNR a The cushion gate and the yielding barrier are two effective remedies and Vancouver have at last aroused the public to the realization that changing conditions have made obsolete devices used at the present time to protect bridge approaches and railroad crossings. A cushion barrier gate devised by the Chicago bureau of engineering seems to have solved the problem of the improperly protected R® ENT accidents in Boston, Chicago Safeguarding Our Bridges Automobile run- bridgeapproach and the yield- ing chain bar- rier for railroad crossings prom- ises to do much to lessen the number of accidents. The cushion barrier gate, which has been installed at the Lake Street bridge, in Chi- cago, consists essentially of a forty-two-foot boom of Doug- las fir, sixteen inches in diam- eter, suspended ning ‘into the yielding chain barrier, which consists of a steel truss strung between uprights overcome the inertia of a heavy weight but acts against gravity on a total weight of over five tons. Danger of dropping, the boom on astreet car iseliminated by an ingenious device. Each time a_ street car enters the bridge, it auto- ii | 7 re i jf--1 } oe a i pre ae wee -ot BS ----22 Ak ‘ from the top of the bridge by two heavy twelve-inch pipes. The boom, which weighs a ton, serves as a buffer to stop a street car or automobile running at high speed without wrecking it or causing serious injury to the occupants. When a car bumps into the boom, the boom rolls for ee ae two feet, then slides for eight feet, and then for the next five feet slides and rises two feet, so that the car not only has to 565 matically turns iN The cushion barrier gate which re- 4 [ee cently stopped a street car running a cog wheel one i 4 at ten miles an hour without damag- notch. The af ing the car. See diagram at left boom, which is in position against the top of the framework, cannot be dropped by the bridge tender until the car pushes forward another cog wheel when it passes off the bridge at the other end. The lighting system, which is also unique, has proved highly effective. The engineers have utilized the well-known principle, little used for bridge signals, that a light which goes on and off at short intervals catches the eye quicker than any other. The red lights first come on.at the ‘‘Stop”’ sign at the left. Then in quick succession the lights in the gate at the left, in the gate at the right, and the ‘‘Stop” sign at the right tt es naga ann Re

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‘an hour. At that speed the - or structural 566 come on. fraction of a second. The whole effect is that of a giant swinging a large red lantern. So effective is the lighting system that in the year since the barrier gate was ‘installed not a single acci- dent has occurred. On other bridges not thus equipped the gates are out of com- mission much of the time owing to the fact that auto- mobiles run into the gate arms. Recently a trial test was deliberately made with a street car running ten miles car had a striking weight of fifty-three thousand - foot pounds. The street car was brought to.a complete stop in fifteen feet. The car was not damaged in the least, and the motorman, who re- mained at his post, was not even severely shaken up. The barrier gate was also POPULATION OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES Popular Science Monthly Each tight remains on only a We Burn Coal Lavishly, But We Haye POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES TOTAL COAL MINED IN THE | UNITED STATES PRIOR TO IQI3: The coal mined in this country up to 1913 and what we still have on hand Plenty of It to Burn HILE it is true that the United States is the largest consumer of coal in the world, using nearly forty per cent of the world’s total production, it is something . of a comfort to know that we have not yet consumed more than one-half of one per cent of the total quan- tity which geologists esti. mate is at present contained within our borders. The annual production of coal in the United States has increased more than eight hundred per cent in thirty-five years—from sixty-eight million tons in 1879 to more than a half billion tons in 1913. Not- withstanding the enormous amount of coal available, | I913 PRODUCTION, COAL RESERVE IN THE ‘UNITED STATES undamaged. our exports in 1913 The yield- amounted to very little, ing ehain bar- only about four per cent of rier for rail- the entire output. In this road crossings tot3 year Great Britain ranked and for bridge TOTAL COAL MINED IN THE WORLD _— §6sscond as a coal producer, » OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES b- approaches PRIOR TO 1013 Coal was first worked in frequented the United States in Rich- by light traf- fic, consists of two uprights steel posts, one at each side of the mond, Virginia, in the mid- dle of the eighteenth cen- tury, and indeed that State in proportion to its size, long surpassed all the others in varieties of coal pro- duced, and area of coal roadway, “*connected at COAL RESERVE measures, though there it had the disadvantage that the coal was generally deeply buried. In 1820 the total output of coal in the: IN THE the top with wor.p OUTSIDE a steel ‘truss. OF THE The weight of unitep states § = SS me peeter C i b th aeons lation counterbal- maka = nl “We me eat tae than anced by means of a counterweight contained within the two side posts. When struck by a vehicle the barrier gives, the chains paying cut, and gradually absorbing the energy. of the shock until it brings the vehicle to a stop. one-half of one per cent. of the total quantity country was three thousand four hundred and fifty tons; by 1850 the annual output was over seven million tons. According to the United States Geologi- cal Survey the total area of coal-beds is close to five hundred thousand square miles, of which about one-half contain anthracite and bituminous coal. EL POT ORD ETRE! ESRI LEEL LPN ENE LY TL RELIES aE LEE LOA RI OE ERT ie ek a ak ce er eA oO ae Se ee SS oS.

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han t in 3 in half Jot- ous ble, 913 ttle, t of this ked cer, 1 in ich- nid- cen- tate 3ize, hers )r0- coal e it that lly the the : and Ons} tput ons. ogi- s is iles, cite Shifting Gears by Electricity It requires but one operation to shift from neutral to high gear Brackett, cf Copper Cliff, Ontario, a mechanism is described which elec- irically controls the entire range of the speed of a gasoline automobile without re- course to shifting the change gears by hand. This control is centralized in one lever on the steering-wheel, which lever can be so manipulated that the car can be started from neutral to reverse speed or from neutral to a high forward speed on the high gear. In prin- ciple these results are obtained by means of a master switch, placed in an elec- trical cir- cuit be- tween a solenoid to throw the driving clutch of the auto- mobile in or out of mesh, and six other solenoids, two for bring- ing the gears to neutral position and one each for the reverse, low, second and high speeds. These solenoids’ are arranged to shift the ordinary change-speed gears of the automobile by conventional shifter bars. The master-switch is operated by means of the control-lever on the steering-wheel. The position of the lever is regulated by means of notches on a sector on the steering- wheel. These notches, corresponding with those of the master-switch, are wired to the various solenoids so that a movement of the lever automatically disengages the clutch by energizing its solenoid and at the same time closes one of the gear-shifting sole- noids. This causes the gear with which that solenoid is connected by means of its shifter arm to move into mesh. I a patent recently granted to John C. CONTROL CONTROL ROD The control is centralized in one lever operated from the steering-wheel At right: The details of the wiring arrangement, showing the speed gears CLUTCH The control lever may also be moved from neutral to high speed in one operation to start the engine automatically, pick up the car on first speed and then through intermediate gear to high gear. This is ac- complished by means of a self-starting relay switch on the dash of the car and a rack and pinion used in connection with a toothed ring on the master switch. This pinion is mounted on a vertical shaft driven off the lower end of the throttle control bar down the center of the steering column by means of bevel gears. The rack is at- tached to a_ horizontal -rod which is broken at one point and fitted at one end with a washer which acts as a piston against. a spring carried in a cup cylinder mounted on the other end. The rod is then extended and form- ed into a second rack which meshes with the toothed ring on the master switch, the latter be- ing in the form of a vertical cylinder with the solenoid contact points on the curved surface. The toothed ring also has a set of interior and exterior notches corresponding to those of the control and solenoid contact points. The rack rod with its spring cylinder works in opposition to a rod connected with the clutch shifter arm. This rod is also fitted with washers and opposite- acting contracting springs, the former car- rying rollers which contact with the notches on the master switch ring. SECOND VERSE All the specialized knowledge and information of the editorial staff of the Popular Science Monthly is at your disposal. Write to the editor if you think he can help you. 567

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aaa TTT ee Popular Science Monthly By James H. Hare in Leslie’s Weekly Augmenting the tones of the bugle by means of a giant megaphone at Camp Fort Riley Megaphoning the Reveille—The Latest in Military Efficiency N the training camp at Fort Riley a huge megaphone has_ been erected on a stand to enable a field bugler to sound reveille with such a vim that it will be irresistible, as well as to put punch into the re- treat which is sounded at evening parade after the band ceases its music. When the last note of the retreat has died away the band plays “The Star Spangled Banner”’ as the flag is lowered and the stienuous day at camp is officially over for the soldiers. By the use of the mega- phone to augment the bugler’s tones, the one instrument is_ sufficient for the entire camp and The More You Pay for Your Clothes, the More They Suffer in the Wash HE price that we pay for cleanliness is to a large extent, paid to the laundry. man. According to an investigation made by the Mellon Institute of Industrial Re. search, at Pittsburgh, Pa., only forty-three per cent of the life of a collar, for instance, is consumed in the actual wearing of it, The other fifty-seven per cent is passed in the laundry and hanging on the line. Should a perfectly new collar be laundered from thirty-five to forty times without being used at all, it would be worn to a frazzle when nearing its fortieth trip to the laundry. With ordinary wear between launderings, the limit of trips to the. laundry is twenty. The finer the texture of the garment or fabric to be laundered the more it suffers in the process, however scientific the methods of laundering may be. Just ordinary exposure to the air when hanging on the line, not considering the flapping in the wind, which is, of course, destructive to fine fabrics, affects the strength of the fabric more than would be imagined. Here Is the Fountain Spot-Remover, It Works Like a Scrubbing Brush Y means of a small cloth. covered brush containing a fountain filled with cleansing liquid, spots may be taken out of clothes at home. The woclen bottom of the clean- _ser serves to wash out dirt and grease without at the same time scraping off the nap of the gar- ment, thus overcoming a common trouble in spot removers. The cloth covering of the brush can be easily removed and another sub- stituted of the same color as the garment to be cleaned, to prevent all danger of discoloration. The device works well with all kinds of cloth; it is especially effective its notes carry equally as far as those of the entire regimental band. The woolen bottom of the cleanser is kept moistened with the cleansing fluid in the top with plush and velvet and even for portiéres and carpets. Eis lla ahs

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er. oth- 1g a sing aiken The ean- out hout ping gar- ng a spot g of asily sub- color t all tion. well th; it ctive elvet iéres She Was Torpedoed but Her Cargo Plugged the Hole NE of the most unusual salvages yet recorded in these days of submarine warfare is that of the Norwegian steam- ship Kongsli, whose cargo of grain swelled to such an extent on the in- rush of water through the ragged hole torn in her side by a torpedo, that the hole was clogged up and the water prevented from flowing in and sinking her. The vessel was | of grain in torpedoed love oh araip i about fifteen forpedoed —~ miles off the level of grain - coast of Hol- _ after torpedoing landandwas ‘=a later towed ai into Yumid- en, near Am- sterdam, where it was | put into dry- i dock and her ae hull repaired so that she was soon able to put to sea again. A party of fishermen, approaching the vessel, found her abandoned, for the crew had left her as soon as possible after the torpedo had struck, because she had listed to a dangerous degree. Even the captain had given her up as lost. The fishermen, clambering aboard to dis- cover the trouble, were amazed to find that the ragged hole on one side and hull plates torn loose on the other by the force of the explosion had been very effectively plugged by the swollen grain as shown in the ac- companying cross-sectional view. Of course the ship was then merely floating on the ocean as a boy’s boat made of a stick on a pond, and the fishermen were afraid to attempt to tow her because the rush of the water along her sides might have washed away the effective grain seal. Accordingly, they improvised bales made out of canvas filled with grain and forced these into the holes. This made the stoppage secure enough to enable the vessel to be towed to a nearby port. - Swollen qrain Bpluqs up hole 5 i ; Me Plating tornesti apart in raqged . hole by explosio The inrushing of the water caused the grain to swell, so that it effectually plugged up the hole made by the torpedo Popular Science Monthly 569 + Making a Fortune Out of Dust from a Cement Factory HE United States Bureau of Mines has lately issued a statement in regard to a Portland cement plant at Riverside, California, which shows how an apparatus, in- stalled to avoid nuisance and save the health of the work- ers, has become the central fea- ture of the whole establish- ment. One of the great trou- bles of a Portland ce- ment mill is the dust. It is likely to disturb veg- etation by settling down on growing things, and it is very unwhole- ’ some. The factory in question was in trouble on this account and it availed itself of Prof. Cottrell’s invention to precipitate the par- ticles on their way to the stack by means of electric currents. Now this dust contains potash, and soefficient is theinstallation that ninety per cent. of the content of this precious product is recovered in the form of potash salts. The present demand for potash in this country is something like Coal Oil Johnny’s thirst, which, according to the legend, was unquenchable. As is well known, we formerly obtained our en- tire supply from Germany. These salts which they produce in California bring as high as $400 and $450 a ton. The Riverside concern- finds that its potash salt output pays its entire operating costs plus a reasonable profit, leaving the cement, which it will soon be producing at a rate of 5,000 bbls. per day, as clear profit. It has no immediate market for so much cement, but what is not sold is kept in storage.—ELLWoop HENDRICK. *5—Swollen qrain— eu4 stops inrush g 21a i of water ead The November issue of Popular Science Monthly will be on sale on all newsstands, Wednesday, October 10th (west of the Rocky Mountains, October 20th).

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Popular Science Monthly Note the engine cylinders under the tender. forty-six thousand pounds, which is the power of the ordinary engine, to sixty-four thousand Putting Driving Wheels Under the Locomotive Tender O climb a steep stretch of track sixty- nine miles long on the Southern Rail- road between Asheville, N. C., and Hayne, S. C., seven giant locomotives, with driving wheels under the tender as well as under the cab and boiler, are used. This novel ar- rangement makes it possible for a single engine to have no less than sixteen driving wheels, giving it a tractive power much greater than that of the ordinary locomotive. By mounting tender-tanks upon the machinery of discarded locomotives, and by utilizing the frames, cylinders, wheels, axles, side-rods and valves of scrapped engines, the expense involved was reduced to its lowest terms. The tender has its own pair of cylinders, and flexible piping carries the steam from the main boiler. The “duplex engine,’’ as it is called, has a drawing -power of sixty-four thousand pounds, as against forty-six thou- sand pounds for the single en- gine formerly used. The speed of this type of en- gine is also propor- tionately greater than that of other types. — a Pe oe ee | an fone sca They increase the drawbar pull of the engine trom A Little Bit of Egypt on a California Ostrich Farm HAT! Has the hand of the West desecrated and commercialized the historic pyramids of Egypt? Does the over-decorated entrance shown in the illustration below, with its advertising signs printed in English and just visible behind one of the columns, mean that the ancient Pharaoh has been ousted from his last resting place? Not necessarily. A second glance at the photograph will doubt- less reveal the fact that the object is only a small building with pyramidal outline and decorations suggestive of Egypt. It is used as an exhibition room on an ostrich farm in California. Here the ostrich breeding industry is explained in detail to the interested visitor, and ostrich plumes are sold. The eftcct is picturesque and_ thoroughly I:gyptian, especially when the ostriches are taking their exercise over the grounds. Ostrich eggs are also sold here. They are consid- ered rare dain- ties by epi- cures. > An exhibition room in California, where the products of an ostrich farm are displayed. It borrows its construction from the Pyramids and symbolic structures of ancient Egypt

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est modern automobile and the seats and backs of most - library chairs are made of leather? If you do, you must change your notions entirely. Things are not always what they seem. Your silk socks were once part of a tree that grew in a forest; leather is nowadays as often a form of downy cotton as the tanned hide of a steer. It may startle you to know that these new forms of leather are varieties of gun-cotton. Fear not; they are not dangerous. The ‘gun’ has been taken out of the cotton. A chemical compound which can blast a subway or blow up a Czar is converted into a necessary and peaceful substitute for cowhide for articles of clothing. By you suppose that the luxuriant upholstery of a Originally, leath- er substitutes were manufactured sole- ly for the purpose of producing a cheap upholstery material which would look like what it isnot. In course of time, various improve- ments in processes and materials were made so that a real substitute for leather was produced which actually wore better than some kinds of hide. Indeed, these substitutes were in part composed of leather; for they were, in reality, thin sections or sheets cut from the under side of the hide and coated and embossed so that they looked like real top side uphol- stery leather. These “split” leathers and leather substi- an eR SRN SRE Coarse weak fiber | stamped with artificial grain Strongest and most durable part,used for mpholstering /Not fit to use in i . furniture. The " ia : oF is F grain \s "made Thin top layer V7 used for béok- indi eine "3 Used in inner ‘soles a of shoes and on cheap ' dash boards And These Are Not Leather? They feel like seal, morocco, and cowhide; but suitcases, pocketbooks, bags and auto- mobile seats, are made of cotton rowadays That fine-looking ‘‘seal’”’” pocketbook which you admire in a shop window is nothing but dyed and embossed sheepskin and is quite inexpensive RIES PEF NS A ae Those jaunty little Pongermce™ Su, outing caps—who ; .: cares if they are eencaa gal Go not real “leather?” Prnpeg ty tutes have become of increasing im- portance because of the war. Not Vis Me) only are they Mumma § cheaper, but they y conserve leather. For harness, belt- ing, saddles, boots, etc., leather of good quality is indispensable; and just now there is not enough of it to meet these essen- tial requirements. Since the leather ‘“‘split,’’ which is coated and embossed or grained to resemble real hide, is really nothing but a foundation, manufacturers must have asked themselves: “Why not use a fabric base instead?’ The experiment was made and a base secured. p o ae a lh Pr Pt} f oe ile At left: Thin sections or sheets cut from the under side of the hide and coated and em- bossed to look like real top-side upholstery At right: Only the heel of this shoe is leather. The top, facings, ' tip, tongue and heel counter are of substitute ma- terial. Yet it will. wear well

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, violent explosive and be- 572 Popular Science Monthly from cotton. The coating is composed principally of soluble cotton. In the it is leather. process the cotton is separated from foreign then particles and washed. It is nitrated, as it is called, which means that it is treated with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acid and dried. In this form it is gun-cotton— the most powerful ex- plosive known. Gun-cotton can be dis- solved in certain ethers and alcohols, as well as a few other solvents. Thus dissolved, it ceases to bea The material from which this hand-bag is made looks, feels and wears like leather and to all intents and purposes it is leather comes a sticky liquid, the body of which depends on the proportion of the cotton to the solvent. This solution of cotton is technically called ‘‘pyroxylin.”” It isan indispensable material in many industries. With- out it gas mantle dips, bronzing liquids, liquid court plaster, patent leather finishes, wood and metal lacquers and en- amels could not be made cheaply. In preparing leather substitutes pyroxylin of proper body is mixed with vegetable oils’ to impart elasticity; min- eral pigments are added to give the desired color. The pyroxylin is applied to dyed cloth as it moves through a coating ma- chine. A thin film is thus spread on the cloth from which the solvent evaporates. As the cloth like leather, and to all intents and purposes, Very little morocco, seal and walrus leather actually comes from the animals whose hides are so character- istically marked. Most of it is split cowhide embossed in the manner described. That fine looking ‘‘seal’” pocketbook which you admire in a shop window is nothing but dyed and embossed _ sheepskin. Only an expert could tell that the product is not what it purports to be. The principal difference is not in the appearance but in the price. If You Had No More Teeth Than an Elephant You Couldn’t Be a Soldier F you have ever had the op- portunity to look inside an elephant’s mouth you have your own personal opinion about the reason why it grows a trunk so long that it covers the mouth com- pletely and conceals the interior even when the mouth is open. For the elephant is shy of teeth. There are none at all in the front and only eight —two molars above and two below on each side— in the whole cavernous mouth. Each of these molars is as large as a man’s hand. The hay and fodder which passes through the machine, which is about one. hundred feet long, it dries quickly. Again and again it is passed through the machine until the film is built up to form a coat- ing of the required thickness, toughness and_ elasticity. The coated cloth is then passed between hot emboss- ing cylinders of steel which press the coating so that it assumes the appearance of The elephant’s baby teeth morocco, seal, walrus and other leathers. usually fall out when the animal is about The resultant product looks, feels and wears fourteen years old. make up the elephant’s food are shifted over them by the queerest, ugliest tongue im- aginable. The tongue is lit- erally hung at both ends, having no power of move- ment except in the middle where it shifts back and forth from side to side, arching up -against the roof of the mouth like a huge wrinkled pink serpent. Only an expert could tell that the ‘‘leather” of the upholstery is a substitute x SER

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Is oo n 1. ” Among all liars we take off our steel helmets to the sellers of old cars By Edward C. Crossman ITH the enormous depreciation in y \/ value of the used motor car, and the ignorance of the average person of even primary automobile mechanics—and the ways that are dark of some gentlemen in the used car game—the average seeker of a satisfactory used car is apt to be fooled. The automobile is not so completely stand- ardized as we are told it is. Development is still rapid. Devices widely heralded one vear as marvelous improvements prove to be failures the next. And as added compli- cation, most motor companies, at some time in their career, make an engineering mistake and turn out a model for which thev are sorry. Yet, to the unwary, this model sells on the strength of the fine repu- tation of later and earlier productions.: Second-hand, it brings a price far out of proportion to. its value, purely because of the reflected glory shed upon it. As the result of a slight improvement in appearance, a flock of second-hand Ford cars are on the market. In theory, so slight has been the change that it is im- possible to be cheated badiy in buying a Ford. Still, even the Ford Company made changes quietly as it went along, many necessitated as a remedy for grievous errors in design. Hence the ° buyer of an old Ford ‘Buying a “Used Car” The owner of the wreck- ing yard asked $75 for this windsplitter; but offering him $50 would have been dan- gerous if you didn’t want the car. Buyers of cars from corner-lot markets are like lambs to be shorn run about six times as far as a privately owned car in the same length of time. The Ford is the best second-hand buy on the market, and brings a relatively higher price than any other car. At the same time it is well to be able to recognize the changes in the Ford, so that one will not pay a 1917 price for a car of 1913 vintage. The best plan is to take the engine number, telephone the nearest Ford agency, and ask for the date of sale and name of the man to whom it was sold. The agency will get the information for you if it isnot onhand. By that means and looking up the state registry, the life history of the car can be traced. If the seller claims to be the 4 original buyer, who has treated the car as the may find himself the buyer of a repair bill, reasonable as Ford re- pairs are. The coming of the jitney business compli- cated the problem of the Ford used-car. For instance, one of my acquaintances loaded himself up with a good- looking Ford without going into its pedigree. apple of his eye and washed it with toilet water and fed it only certified and sterilized gasoline,- he will be somewhat embarrassed if the Ford record shows some other chap to have paid down the original purchase price. Cheap as are repairs and improved features, no one cares to pay for It turne+ out to be.a jitney veteran, with springs softened, frame sprung, and the general wear of a ’bus from that service, which means that it had been t An Old-style Ford Switch and Coil Box Learn to identify the models. It is well to be able to recognize the various Ford vintages. The Ford made earlier than’ 1914 would have to be an almost new car in order to be worth much over $200. Because of the ease with which Ford parts are crossed, the unwary will sometimes be caught. Therefore, check up your Ford engine number 573 them and not get them. “You Never Can Tell” You never can tell who’s had the car, nor what he’s done to it. ' i | 1 j / / |

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l= i a Popular Science Monthly You may find, out of sight to cursory inspec- tion, a nice worn-out spot, or a gash six inches long. Heavy oil and ground cork are wonderful, quieting drinks to noisy and worn and _ loose gears, but, unhappily, they don’t occupy a high place in automo- bile mechanics. Thestarting and light- ing system of a car is another trap for the un- wary. Some of the earliersystems were beautiful examples of electric abortions. Even up-to-date systems have eaten-out plates, which % : a The Port of Ancient Cars usually require a new battery at the purely Some of the tricks to befool the innocent are simple, though effective. For instance, a “c $ ” ‘ os well-worn tire held fora moment against a buffingwheel might get such a bright shine nominal, price of say as to pass for new. Patent cure-alls are used for temporarily plugging leaky radiators $25. Unless the buyer is in the hands of a You can’t tell whether he’s been in a_ reputable dealer, he has his choice of the smashup and sprung the frame and_ twoalternatives in this case—to stick a gun wrenched the car. You can’t tell whether to the head of the seller and wring the un- or not there’s a crack in the frame, puttied biased truth from him or to take the car to up and painted over. condition of the thou- sands of parts with- out having the car taken down and over- hauled; and no- body’s going to pay for this on a chance of asale. If you do know the owner and his habits and so the history of the car, the tale is again dif- ferent, but trust not in the yarns of the would-be seller of the motor car—even though he be usually a truthful man. The spare tire, neatly strapped on behind the tonneau, is an attractive addi- tion on the used-car, but before listing it as one of the desir- able points, take it off and look it over. You can’t tell the the agency for the system and get their A Body and Chassis of About 1°11 With a New Rear Axle Housing The Ford is a good car to buy second hand, for the simple reason that the latest im- provement made by the manufacturers can be easily installed on any old Ford. Of no other car is this true. But buy from a reputable agency that values the reputation of the car. The buyers who suffer in second-hand deals are those on the hunt for unfortu- nates whom Fate has robbed .and forced to “sacrifice” at a ridiculous price i) EIR LS a EER SET eee ee oe ae ae a

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- Fondulac Eight, or it Popular Science Monthly 575 opinion on it. Names in starting systems confidence in their own smartness. Smart- mean nothing. Some of the great electric ness avails one nothing in the second-hand shops unhappily put their august names to game the other chap is always. still starting systems as shoddy and unreliable smarter; else he couldn’t make his salt. as their higher priced ones are good and desirable. The Alcove may mean a fine start- ing system fit for the may mean a junky 4 thing designed for the famous $695 Tincar. There is of course a legiti- mate field for the sale of second- hand motor cars, and there are many responsible business men engaged in sell- ing them. The buyers who suf.er in second- hand car deals are the ones How Could Any One Pass This Gem By ? Horse trading is childishly simple compared with the second-hand auto- mobile trade. There can be but acertain number of things wrong with a horse. But the motor-car may have more vices than a herd of horses Always Consult the Agency As a matter of choice the seeker after the second- hand car ought to consult the agency of that car, be- cause the agent is reliable, knows the car, and does not care to have it go out and earn either him or his firm a bad name. On the other hand, the buyer is likely to pay a bit more, beczuse just as_ the agent for that make does not want to see his who are on the hunt for unfortunates from cars drop too fast in value because of the whom hard luck has pried loose a car—and_lapse of a year or two, the agent of some who bite on decoy advertisements, or those other make always smiles when he can put who go straying along the curb markets or _ over the sale of the opposition second-hand the corner open air emporiums with full car at a low price, To the Junk-Pile at Last You can junk the old car for $100 if you can’t do anything else with it. This is what happens to many second-hand “bargains.” A prominent dealer in second-hand cars remarked recently: ‘There may be exceptions here and there, but no car made prior to 1913 is worth ‘more than $100” and still make some money atit. Hedoes not forget to adver- tise the sale to his potential customers as showing the quick fall- off in value of the Hinkydink car. Also, as he’s not crying his eyes out if the said Hinkydink car does not turn out well, he'll live up to his guarantee merely to the bare letter. In spite of the re- liability of the respon- sible firms that sell second-hand cars as part of their business, the person not at all versed in the motor car game would do well to get a new car, even though it fall many grades below the second-hand car.

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Popular Science Monthly The gasoline en- gine runs the blower machine which supplies air for the fire | Boring a_ hole t in the roots of a stump. A fire is afterward start- ed in each hole Blowing Stumps Away with Air—An Agricultural Shortcut HE gasoline engine will play an im- portant part in clearing two hundred million acres of cut-over land in, some thirty states of the Union. Gasoline engines have for a dec- ade or more been successfully used as power. for stump-pullers, but the new method recently evolved promises greater efficiency. The engine is used to run what is known as the “blower machine.” This usually consists of a gaso- line-engine, a blower, a dis- tributor, and several lengths of rubber hose with short lengths of iron pipe upon one end. The air in the blower is divided into an equal number of parts by the distributor and is forced through the sections of hose to the nozzle, from which it is directed upon the fire. ae The owl paper weight which holds scissors and paste A one and_ one-quarter inch auger is used to bore a hole into the roots of the stump at a sufficient depth below the surface to permit of eventually tilling the soil, the earth having first been removed around the stump to a depth of from twelve to eighteen inches. A fire is started at the bottom of these holes by means of a hot iron, the nozzles being placed at the openings. The air blasts keep the fire going. While these are burning, four holes are bored _ two to three feet away at right angles to the first ones. Fires are started in these. After the sets of holes burn to an intersection they will continue burning until the stump is consumed, so that the air blasts can be removed. One man is able to operate five to six lines of hose. As these outfits cost but three hundred to five hundred dollars equipped, and the cost of gasoline is but ten cents per hour, this proves a very economical method of clearing wild land of stumps. An Owl with Eyes of Scis- sors and Backbone of Paste \AJISE old Mr. Owl may sleep during the day and fly by night in his natural ele- ment, but when the manu- facturers get him in their clutches they reverse the order of things. The ac- companying illustration shows what they did to a wooden owl. His back is a tube of paste; those are scissors around his eyes. He is six inches high and the scissors that shade his eyes slip into an opening in the front. As a household pet he keeps company with the housewife’s workbasket, the sewing machine and the baby’s scrap-book. Re re CaN a ne _ SRDS oT re —E arava ar a a), we es)

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lly ng he ym ot ng PS, ep 1g. Se ire =~ eee eee lCULCUlChlU

Fat nies

‘for study on a screen in Photographing Sunken Ships A giant electric camera is used for locating sunken ships and treasures sea photography has been invented by H. Hartman, a civil engineer of New York city. With A N electric submarine camera for deep the light projector consists of a strong steel cylinder, filled with a gas under varying pressure and having highly con- ; centrated filaments. The

it a sunken submarine or a wrecked vessel may be located and pictures of its condition projected a few hours. Experi- enced divers would re- quire days to secure the same information. The camera consists of several cylinders con- nected with a steel frame- work. The ball at the bottom is a shock ab- sorber, and the compart- ment above it contains a gyroscope to steady the apparatus against vibra- tion. In the top cylinder is a motor which turns a propeller. This rotates the camera up on its vertical axis so that pic- tures can be taken in all directions. Current for the motor is obtained from above through a cable. The tank below the -

light works on the prin- ciple of the ordinary in- candescent bulb, so far as is known. An inner circle of transparent mica protects the heavy glass lens from the intense heat, although the sur- rounding water reduces the temperature consid- erably. A valve mechan- ism varies the pressure of the gas according to the pressure of the water in which the cylinder is submerged. Reserve gas is contained in a separate compartment. In addi- tion to the live wire which acts as the source of light, there is a flexible steel wire rope to carry the weight of the entire apparatus. On land the camera mechanism weighs one thousand five hundred pounds. Submerged it weighs about one hun-

propeller cylinder con- tains the camera, as well as the tilting, swinging and focusing apparatus. The shutter and focusing mechanism are both op- erated from _ separate switches on the surface vessel. <A _ third switch enables the operator to swing the camera in conjunction with the light pro- jector or independently of it. Tests carried out aboard the U.S. S. Vestal proved that the camera could take pictures of the same object repeatedly. Although some were out of focus, the majority were sharp and clear. Concerning the source of light, which is contained in the largest cylinder of the apparatus, very little is known. Current for the light comes from the surface through a special cable. According to the inventor thousand feet. The camera is lowered in the water to any depth up to one The pictures are taken and the entire camera mechanism operated from the surface by means of switches 577 dred pounds. All parts are tested for a pressure of five hundred pounds to the square inch, which corresponds to a depth of about one thousand feet of water. To operate the light projector and the several small motors, a current of approximately one hundred amperes and one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty volts is required. When the camera is operating at a great depth under ‘water, the voltage has to be increased to two hundred to make good the loss in passing through the long cable. The inventor proposes to use his camera for treasure hunting, for the locating of sunken ships, and for the study of marine growths. There is no question but what the camera will be of great value in wreck- ing and salvaging operations.

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“Blind?” No, Said the Motion Picture Its testimony proved that a “blind’’ man could see, and thus reversed the decision of the court 25 RE you the owner of. this property?’’ asked a passer-by of Peter Zyla, who was - busily engaged in his poultry yard on the outskirts of Chicago, negotiating a sale of pigeons to a teamster who seemed hard to suit in the matter of At left: The supposedly blind man accommodates the lady by hanging her furs on the clothes line At right: He lights a cigar from the flame of a match held in the motion- picture man’s fingers “play”? is over. Shaking hands with the director after the The camera gets it all and registered just the proper amount of in- terest—and perhaps a trifle more—when the lady exposed the trim- mest of trim ankles in ascending and descend- ing a ladder. But alas for the ro- mantic possibilities! The film was later pro- duced in court as “‘ex- the color and markings of the birds. The stranger carried a camera, and while he waited for Zyla’s attention he took a picture of the pigeons—and of the agile When the birds had been delivered and the teamster had driven off, Zyla turned his attention to the man with the Zyla. camera. By that time another visitor had appeared on the scene. She stood beside the man with the camera and gave Peter a smile which warmed the cockles of his bachelor heart. They wanted to take motion pictures with plenty of local color, they said. Of course Zyla consented. He was even obliging enough to take a part in the scene. He hung clothes on the line, noncha- lently lighted a cigar | Portions of the film exhibited in court. Zyla admitted posing but claimed that he did exactly as he was told, even in the “flirtation”? parts hibit A” in a suit against Zyla brought by an accident and indemnity company to prove that Zyla had not been blinded, as he claimed, by the alternating heat and cold of the plant in which he worked. demnity company had planned the entire scene, even the purchase of the pigeons in. The in- the first act. The State Indus- trial Rcard had de- cided that Zyla was entitled to damages under the Work- men’s Compensation Act, but the indem- nity company,which insured the plant against loss under the Act, decided to make some investi- gations on its own initiative before obeying the order of the Court. The case was finally de- cided in favor of the indemnity company. epee, Se a rw ao —e a, ~*~ wel ee ie”

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uS- yas res , k e on m- ich nt ler ti- re Sc Pec Making Spectacular Displays with the Aid of Toy Balloons HE latest idea in illuminated displays for garden parties, for patriotic gather- ings, and the like, is an electrically lighted balloon to be used in place of the old Japanese lantern. These balloons cannot be blown out by the wind, nor can they catch fire; they will give just as spectacular an effect as Japanese lanterns. Ordinary toy rubber balloons are fitted with a metallic neck through which the lighting receptacle can be passed with a thrust of the hand. The electric bulb is secured on the end of a tube inside of this receptacle, and through the ring-shaped space around this tube, air can be blown to inflate the balloon. When the current is turned on, the rays of light pass through the stretched, translucent rubber with a warm glow. A number of differently colored balloons strung across a garden, or arranged in the form of a great flag would produce very spectacular effects. Displays could be held in the country miles away from an electric light wire. Small incandescent bulbs could be installed to take the place of the larger bulbs, and they could be lighted from the current obtained from a battery or a series of batteries. Or a number of pocket flash- lights could give a pleasing effect. The bulbs could be disconnected from the flash- light and wires could connect the bulbs with the battery. Popular Science M onthly PG Tay acs may ostasc Mee SEALS ROGET PESTS ws crn win om How California is teaching its outdoor pop- ulation to cease killing harmless snakes which destroy disease-bearing rodent pests Teaching the Truth About the Misunderstood Snake The electric light shining through the rubber vividly il- luminates each gay- ly colored balloon N California the Lorquin Natural History Club of Los Angeles is starting a campaign of snake educa- tion. As the accompany- ing photograph shows, a sign telling passersby that harmless snakes should not be killed—that they destroy disease-bearing rodent pests, is the medium used. These signs are posted in the mountains, in camping places, along streams, and in hunting grounds through- out the State. They have been read by many thou- sands of people. The only undesirable snake in California, as the sign points out, is the rattle- snake. All others are bene- ficial and should be allowed to proceed unmolested.

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Fighting a Gas Attack in the Trenches How it feels when the green-yellow cloud steals on you (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), Arthur Guy Empey, “machine gunner serving in France,’’ takes you into the trenches and makes: you feel what it is to fight under modern conditions. Here is his account of a gas-attack: Three days after we had silenced Fritz, the Germans sent over gas. It did not catch us una- wares, because the wind had been made to order, that is, it was blowing from the German trenches towards ours at the rate of about five miles per hour. Warnings had been passed down the trench to keep a sharp lookout for gas. We had a new man at the periscope, on this afternoon in question; I was sitting on the fire step, cleaning my rifle, when he called out to me: “There’s a sort of greenish, yellow cloud rolling along the ground out in front, it’s coming ; But I waited for no more. Grabbing my bayonet, which was detached from the rifle, I gave the alarm by banging an empty shell case, which was hanging near the periscope. At the same instant, gongs started ringing down the trench, the signal for Tommy to don his respirator, or smoke helmet, as we call it. T a new book entitled “Over the Top” Donning the Gas Masks Gas travels quickly. No time must be lost. There are only about eighteen or twenty seconds in which to adjust a gas helmet. A gas helmet is made of cloth, treated with chemicals. There are two windows, or glass eyes in it, through which you can see. Inside there is a rubber mouth tube. For a minute, pandemonium reigned in our trench—Tommies adjusting their helmets, bombers running here and there, and men turning out of the dugouts with fixed bayonets, to man the fire step. Re-inforcements were pouring out of the com- munication trenches. Our gun’s crew were busy mounting the machine- gun on the parapet and bringing up extra am- munition from the dugout. A company man on our right was too slow in getting on his helmet; he sank to the ground, clutching at his throat, and after a few spasmodic twistings, went West (died). It was horrible to see him die, but we were powerless to help him. In the corner of a traverse, a little muddy cur dog, one of the company’s pets, was lying dead, with his two paws over his nose. It’s the animals that suffer the most, the horses, mules, cattle, dogs, cats, and rats, they having no helmets to save them. Tommy does not sympathize with rats in a gas attack. At times, gas has been known to travel, with dire results, fifteen miles behind the lines. In the Folds of the Green-Yellow Cloud German gas is heavier than air and soon fills the trenches and dugouts, where it ~ £9) has been known to lurk for two or three days, until the air is purified by means of large chemical sprayers. The author continues: A gas, or smoke helmet, as it is called, at the best is a vile-smelling thing, and it is not-long before one gets a violent headache from wearing it. Our eighteen-pounders were bursting in No Man’s Land, in an effort, by the artillery, to disperse the gas clouds. The fire’ step was lined with crouching men bayonets fixed, and bombs near at hand to repel the expected attack. Our artillery had put a barrage of curtain fire on the German lines, to try and break up their attack and keep back re-inforcements. I trained my machine gun on their trench and its bullets were raking the parapet. Then over they came, bayonets glistening. In their respirators, which have a large snout in front, they looked like some horrible nightmare. All along our trench, rifles and machine-guns spoke, our shrapnel was bursting over their heads, They went down in heaps, but new ones took the place of the fallen. Nothing could stop that mad rush. The Germans reached our barbed wire, which had previously been demolis! ed by their shells, then it was bomb against bomb, and the devil for all. Suddenly, my head seemed to burst from a loud “crack” in my ear. Then my head began to swim, throat got dry, and a heavy pressure on the lungs warned me that my helmet was leaking. Turning my gun over to No. 2, I changed helmets, One helmet is good for five hours of strongest gas. Each Tommy carries two. The trench started to wind like a snake, and sand- bags appeared to be floating in the air. The noise — was horrible; I sank onto the fire step, needles seemed to be pricking my flesh—then blackness. I was awakened by one of my mates removing my smoke helmet. How delicious that cool, fresh air felt in my lungs. A strong wind had arisen and dispersed the gas. They told me that I had been “out” for three hours; they thought I was dead. When the Wind Dispersed the Gas The attack had been repulsed after a hard fight. Twice the Germans had gained a foothold, but had been driven out by counter-attacks. ~The trench was _ filled with their dead and ours. Through a periscope, Empey counted eighteen dead Germans in the barbed wire; they were a ghastly sight in their horrible-looking respirators. He examined his first smoke helmet; a bullet had gone through it on the left side, just grazing his ear; the gas had pene- trated through the hole made in the cloth. 80 - tee 2 Ges Gee Oe ee hc Ce lUueelCOU [Oe

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o2 OD LS Be g ey oa nh. Speaking of “Catsut” The sheep is guilty: it is the only animal that makes a racket after it is dead HERE’S thecatfarm from \ \ where we get our supply of catgut? The answer is: There isn’t any cat farm. Cats’ intestines can’t be profit- ably utilized. If not cats, then what furnishes the raw material for musical instrument and ten- nis strings? The answer is: Sheep. Every part of the ani- mel is utilized, even the soft and mellow tones of his bleating voice, which are preserved in the intestines that string the tuneful violin. As soon as the sheep intestines are graded they are divided into narrows about eight yards in length. These are sent to the string factory, where thev are thoroughly cleansed and chemi- cally treated. It takes from twenty to twenty-four sheep to produce the strings for one ten- nis racket. A single violin string monopolizes the entrails of a Drying the string on frames. This is one of the last operations before polishing, and takes from two to six days Removing impurities from the gut strands by washing and Scraping them and running them through wringers on wash- tubs. It requires a skilled workman to prevent tangles 581 whole sheep, however big. From the time the raw material leaves the animals until it is made into strings, twelve to sixteen days are required in the manufactur- ing. The intestines of some sheep are lighter in color than others, but the light or white strings do not possess any better tone quality or durability than the darker ones. After the gut is split by running it over a safety- razor blade, the strands go through another machine which removes impurities. Following this they are re- peatedly run through wring- erson washtubs. From four to fifteen of these strands are used for one music string, being spun into © strings, twisted, and polished off with emery paper. | | j |

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Up with the Storm Signals! The language of the weather bureaus of 7 the world is one of flags, lights and cones HE invention of the electric telegraph made it possible for meteorologists to gather reportsof simultaneous weather observations over exten- sive areas, enter the data on charts, prepare fore- casts and storm warn- ings, and issue such in- formation to the public; all within a period of time short enough to make the predictions use- ful for practical purposes. Telegraphic weather ser- vices date from the middle of the last century, and at first they were designed especially for warning mariners of approaching storms. In the days before ‘“‘wireless’’ the problem of transmitting such warnings to ships at sea could be solved only by the display of con- spicuous signals at nu- NORTHERLY GALES V SOUTHERLY GALDS GALES FROM N.E. v GALES FROM 8S, E + \ HURRICANE A combination of cones which is seen in most French charts Astandard storm-signal tower of the U.S. Weather Bureau. Atthe top of the mast is a weather vane Cone pointing down indi- cates southerly gale; cone pointing up, northerly gale 582 merous points along affected seacoasts, Several forms of signal were evolved. In the British Isles Admiral FitzRoy intro- duced the use of canvas cones and ‘“‘drums”’ (i, e., cylinders), which, seen from any direction, pre- sented the appearance of solid triangles and squares against the background of the sky. At night they were replaced by groups of lanterns. The drum, indicating winds of varying direction, has since been abandoned, and the British now use the cone alone, pointing up or down, for northerly or southerly gales, re- spectively. One of the earliest storm-signaling devices was a form of semaphore, known as the ‘‘aeroclino- scope,’ used in Holland. The position of the arm of the semaphore indi- cated the region in which the barometer was low; i. e., the storm center, The American storm-flag —red with a square black center—was adopted by the United States Signal Service (the predecessor of the Weather Bureau) in 1871. This signal was later amplified by the addition of red and white pennants, to show the e | At night triangular groups of lan- terns of the same significant arrangement replace the cones LOE IED OE SE EF { weoo wm co oO eo &.=n oF @ me F, oe = = CD t Oo net OD 12 Oeeseods = =— | on

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en OS Fm OW =m tt m= -— Nn =r <= 3 a

Popular Science Monti: y

Smal! craft 4 N.E. Storm S.E.Storm A 6

Day Signals

Ky - NW Storm

Hurricane or whole gale a a fn en SW.Storm

Storm signals of U.S. Weather Bureau. The night signals shown above are displayed only on the Great Lakes expectea direction of the wind at the beginning of the approaching storm. In the year 1909 an international com- mission met in London to consider the introduction of a uniform system of storm signals for all countries. The system eventually recommended consists of com- binations of cones, as shown in the annexed f:gure; but it will probably be many years before the international signals come into general use. At the present time some thirty or forty systems of daytime storm signals are in use in different parts of the world. The most elaborate of these are found in the Far East, and serve to indicate, not merely the fact that a storm A Huge Clothing Sterilizer on Wheels for the Armies HE barber’s eternal question, ‘Hot towel, sir?”’ is answered in a novel way in France just now. A giant sterilizer on wheels takes care of the towels and other articles of the men who return from the fighting front and puts them through a steam bath which both cleans and disinfects them. Thus the spread of disease is prevented. However, France does not keep her sterilizers at home. She sends them di- rectly back of the first-line trenches in villages where the troops are permitted to bathe occasionally.

threatens the place where a signal is dis- played, but the ex- istence of a typhoon anywhere in the neighboring seas, its location, and the di- rection in which it is moving. All this is accomplished by means of solid sym- bols (cones, balls, diamonds and squares) displayed at both ends of a yard arm and at the

From the photo- graph it will be seen that the larger tank of the two is the steam chamber, while the smaller tank contains water. The water is heated by gasoline or kero- sene. The steriliz- ing chamber is large enough toaccommo- date nearly a hun- dred soldiers’ suits. It takes about an p| NL = a) vas, aes 44 Xe 3

1 . breach Official Pk summit of amast,in "es hour to thoroughly clean a uniform, but

a conspicuous loca- tion on the coast. A sterilizer for cleaning and thoroughly disinfecting the clothes of French soldiers when they return from the trenches proportionately less for towels.

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Popular Science Monthly More than two thousand pieces of old boiler tubing were welded to make ten miles of continuous pipe flooring without screwed fittings or joints Welding Ten Miles of Pipe for a A Convenient Device for Keeping Skating Rink Your Razor Blades Clean : ‘O make ten miles of continuous pipe T takes nearly as much time to remove was the problem that confronted the safety razor blades, clean and replace builders of a large ice-skating rink at San _ them after using, as it does to shave. And Francisco. Investigation had shown that if a man’s in a hurry, there is an imminent in many ice rinks where ammonia sys- danger of cutting the towel—or his tems were built with screwed fit- : fingers—in the operations. tings, leaks frequently developed A device which will save both in joints supposed to be leak- your time and your temper proof and trouble-proof. The and eliminate the danger of result was shut-downs for re- cutting your hands, is shown pairs and a subsequent finan- in the accompanying illus- cial loss to the management. trations. Two pieces of Oxy - acetylene welding not only made the San Francisco ice rink leak- proof but it made possible a remarkable saving in the purchase of pipe. Instead of using new pipe, fifty-five spring brass, which are riveted together, hold a rubber pad on one end and a felt pad on the other. Two strokes on the rubber pad will clean your razor blade, while two more on thousand feet of two-inch “used” boiler tubing was purchased at a saving of twenty per cent over the cost of new galvanized pipe. The floor is two hundred and ten feet long and ninety feet wide. The welded portions number the felt pad will dry it per- fectly, leaving it clean and bright as when new. The convenience of _ this device makes it unnecessary for anyone to neglect to clean and dry his blades, however great may be his hurry. considerably more than two i ali cea ine ile This means that the blades thousand. This plan elimi- a a dees will be kept from rusting, nated all fear of leaks and for cleaning and dry- and will last considerably proved entirely satisfactory. ing the razor blades longer in consequence. Maybe you have special needs. Write to the editor about anything within the scope of the magazine. He will be glad to help you.

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“hes Popular Science Monthly A New Zinc Product Which Is a Substitute for Tinfoil ROM Breslau, Germany, comes EF a report of a substitute for tinfoil. which has been successfully manufactured from zinc by a Ger- man experimenter. The zinc prod- uct is so similar in appearance and general characteristics to the tinfoil that the two are scarcely distinguishable. The manufacturer claims that the zinc foil will answer every purpose for which tinfoil is ordinarily employed. This Tire Pump Gets Power from the Engine Crankshaft AUTOMOBILISTS, take notice of the tire pump illustrated. It fits any make of car and particu- larly cars which were not originally fitted with power tire-pumps under the en- gine hoods. It is merely slipped over the end of the engine crankshaft extend- ing out in front of the radiator. By starting the engine and attaching a hose from the pump to the nipple, the tire is inflated — Grease’, in a few moments. This done, the pump is removed just as easily and put back in the tool box until required again. It is impossible to pump oil into the tire with the air. Oil rots rubber inner tubes. No oil can find its way to the tire because a tight, vibrating diaphragm is used. The air is sucked in on one side of the diaphragm and then forced out on the same side, in which no oil is used. There is Airin view of the pump, showing the cylinderlike casing with a rubber diaphragm held between top and cover. This diaphragm is vi- brated up and down by means of a lower semi-spherical cup fast- ened to the top of an eccentric connecting rod around the shaft of the pump which is connected with the engine crankshaft. The air is sucked in through a small valve in the cover on the down stroke of the rod and forced out on the upstroke as the diaphragm is also forced up. A check valve in the outlet valve prevents the air from backing up. Above: The pump in use on the car : * Tir to tire a At left: Part cross-sectional Curved head Connecting roa Car crank end ’ Moving Targets to Quicken the Eye and Steady the Aim IFLE clubs are adopting the moving field targets so popular in British shooting ranges to quicken the eye and add zest to rifle and revolver practice. The ‘‘deers” used are generally five feet long and are constructed of heavy plaster- board, painted only one lubri- a light brown and suspended cated part of the pump, and thatisthelower end of the con- necting rod bearing which causes the dia- phragm to vi- brate. This bearing is oiled with grease from an out- side grease cup. A hand pulley improvised from a bicycle wheel is used to drive the target by means of a flexible cable by two wires which ride ona trolley wire which is about thirty yardsinlength. The driving power is fur- nished by a flexible cable attached to the ‘front and rear of the deer.

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£86 Aim and Pull the Trigger to Photo- graph an Enemy from the Air HE scout in an airplane must have something better than his eyes. Anti-aircraft guns compel him to fly at not less than six thousand feet. The ground below is so far away that it is impossible to dis- tinguish make-believe guns from real guns, or to identify the thou- sand and one conceal- ments practiced by the enemy. As a result the camera has taken the place of the airman’s eyes—an especial stereoscopic camera built directly in the machine itself. Dozens of pictures reveal the enemy’s secrets with astonishing frank- ness. During one of the engagements at Arras, no type, adapted less than seventeen hun- photography. Popular Science Monthly Simply pull the trigger and take a picture The camera is of the fixed-focus for long-distance A special telestig- For this method of using a parachute has been developed. Cylindrical pasteboard containers are pro- vided with an umbrella-like para- out landing is often a problem. purpose a very ingenious chute folded inside. By pulling a wire with a hook on the end , to which the folded para- ' chute is attached, the par- achute can be pulled out, and then, due to the tension of the wire framework, automatic- ally spread out. Ob- servers stationed below pick up the film and send it at once to head- quarters for develop- ment. CES TF Number indicates size of apertures Winding key for adjusting shutter cutter Knurled head also used for regulating tension on curtain Brass table indicating curtain apertures and corresponding tensions Hand and dial contro! lens diaphragm Making a Mule Push and Pull at the Same Time EORGE L. COVERT, crippled so that he dred stereoscopic photo- graphs were made in a single day. William F. Folmer believes that bet- ter results can be obtain- matic f. 6.8 lens, as it is called, is employed, which is 14 inches from the plate and which gives results that would be obtained with ordi- nary lenses 24 inches from the plate. The box itself is 22 inches long, 6 inches square at one end, and 5 inches square at the other end. It weighs 10 pounds and is waterproof must always use a wheel- chair, is traveling from New York to the Pacific coast in a queer way. He sits in his wheel-chair and is pushed ahead by ed if the camera is oper- ated by hand. And so he has adapted the well-known focal-plane shutter, with which his mame is identified, to a camera which, as shown in the accompanying illus- tration, is handled like a rifle. The opera- tive mechanism of the camera is exactly like that of the focal-plane shutter cameras well-known means of a shaft of his own invention. The shaft is fastened to the back of the wheel-chair and also toa mule’s collar. Behind the mule is a small two- wheeled wagon in which part of the Covert family rides. Hence the mule pushes the | chair and hauls the wagon at the same time. to most amateur photog- raphers. Mr. Folmer’s cam- era is provided with a regu- lation pistol-grip and trigger. When the trigger is pulled, not only is the exposure made, but a fresh section of the film is advanced for a new exposure. The material of the cam- era is waterproof. So that if the aviator and his instru- ment should fall into water, his valuable films would not be damaged. After a roll of film has been exposed, how to get it back to headquarters with- George L. Covert wants to travel to California from New York. This is how he is doing it, with a caravan of his own inventicn

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Sowing Tree Seed in the Snow As the snow melts the seed sinks deeper and deeper and finally buries itself in the ground O keep our national forests, which are scattered from Alas- ka to Porto Rico, up to standard, twelve to fifteen thousand acres have to be reforested or planted each year. The bare lands must be made productive and the thin stands of wood must be improved. To do this requires an immense amount of labor. Two strips of plowed ground form a guard to prevent a fire from spreading. No grass is al- lowed to grow in the plowed strips Sowing Douglas fir seed in the snow. When the snow melts the seed settles in the ground and is ‘soon buried in a bed of earth One of the accompanying photographs shows a company of men “broadcasting”’ —that-is, sowing seed by casting it broad- cast, over the snow in the Siuslaw National Forest, in Oregon. The seed they are sowing is Douglas fir. As the snow ‘melts the seed sinks deeper and deeper and when the snow disappears entirely the seed is already covered over with sufficient dirt to give it a bed in which to grow. The chief disadvantage of the method is that the seed is conspicuous on snow and likely to be eaten by birds. After a few days of sunshine it soon disappears from view. Another interesting part of the work is the building of fire guards to assist in pro- tecting plantations. In the Nebraska National Forest two strips of plowed ground each twelve furrows wide -and separated by a strip of unplowed ground about two rods wide are constructed. The plowed strips are harrowed when necessary to keep down subsequent growth and the intervening strip of unplowed ground is burned over. The strips arrest the fire when a high wind is blowing. An ordinary fire-break costs about fifty cents per mile per furrow. In heavy timber the cost would be as much as fifty dollars for the same distance. 587

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Let the Birds Save a Billion Dollars a Year A quail can eat 2,000 Hessian flies in a day and a prairic chicken four times as many. Let them keep insects off the farm HARLES E. WHITE, of Chicago, grain broker during his business hours and bird protector during his leisure, believes that it is possible to lop a billion dollars off of the Nation’s cost of living by the simple expedient of feeding insect-eating birds. Farmers and fruit growers of this By Robert H. Moulton bugs. The farmers of the Northern States are paying out $16,000,000 to $20,000,000 a year for Paris green to put on their potato vines. The. quail is the most valuable insect- eating bird of its size. Each adult quail is worth $25 a year to the farmer on whose land it lives. The prai- country are los- ing over $1,000,- 000,000 a year by reason of the destruction of birds in the last thirty years. The cotton growers are suffering a loss of $100,000,- 000 annually be- cause of the rav- ages of the boll weevil. The rea- son is that quails, prairie chickens, meadow larks and other birds have been swept away by gun- ners. Grain growers are losing over $100,000,000 a year on account of the chinch bug and another $200,000,000 a year on account rie chicken consumes about four times as many insects each day as the quail does, be- cause it is about four times as large. In a lesser degree, our small birds, almost without exception, are responsi- ble for the destruction of many insects each day. Mr. White plans to save all insect-destroy- ing birds and prevent the destruction of $1,000,000,000 worth of grain and foodstuffs each year. When ten years ago Mr. White ,bought a five-acre wooded tract near Kenilworth, Chi- cago, he found many of the Hessian fly. Both are An open-air cafeteria to very small in- encourage the coloniza- sects, almost mi- croscopic in size. Over 24,000 chinch bugs weigh one ounce. Nearly 50,000 Hessian flies weigh an ounce. A quail killed in Kansas and examined by a government expert had in its craw the re- mains of over 2,000 Hessian flies it had eaten in one day. A quail killed in a potato field in Pennsylvania and ex- amined by a government entomologist had in its stomach the remains of 126 potato tion of insect-eating birds 588 A winter birdhouse. The wind catches the vanes and turns the house broadside to it, protecting the birds from storms ELIOT A {SIRT

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birds on the piace. But during the winter most of the species migrated. He’ then began to experiment to see how many he could induce to remain all the year round. He built a few bird houses around. the place, gradually increasing the nurhber each year. He also built a number of bird baths. The rustic bird houses, which are preferred by the birds, he made of wood with the bark on. It was not long until the number and species of birds about the place increased amazingly. What was equally important, many which had been regarded as migratory remained the year round. Last winter he induced such birds to stay as the chickadee, nuthatch, white-breasted pecker, brown creeper, cardinal, blue jay, hairy woodpecker, white-throated sparrow, pine siskin, fox sparrow, white-crowned downy wood- sparrow, goldfinch, tohee, robin and species. é The work of feeding the birds has re- sulted in the construction of a special design of food box to hold suet. Mr. White discovered that when suet was placed on the ground or limbs of trees without protection the bigger birds crowded out the smaller and weaker ones and took possession of the entire supply. In order to prevent this the box now used was constructed. other Popular Science Monthly — ee A wren house with a suet basket underneath. Note the windows and blinds of the house Birds like suet. To prevent the larger ones from getting it all, screened suet boxes are used It consists. of a curved piece of steel that protects the bark of the tree upon which it ishung. The front is covered with a strong wire net that is sufficiently coarse to admit the bills of the hungry birds, but too fine ° to allow them to remove all of the suet supply at once. A fresh water bath, according to Mr. White, is the best thing on earth to attract birds. Some of his baths are on stands and some are built in the prourd. These baths, he says, have undoubtedly drawn more birds to his place than all the food he has ffered them. He soon found that some species of birds are afraid of the ground baths, but will bathe in those that are raised, and vice versa.

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590 tet ene ti Popular Science Monthly | down steep roads should anything go wrong with the regular brakes. It is the invention of George Stickney, of Oregon. It consists of a harrow-like frame suspended from a cross- wise shaft pivoted to the The tooth-like points of the harrow brake dig into the ground and hold the car in place until the engine can be started again A Harrow-Like Brake for Mountain- Climbing Automobiles ANY deaths have occurred in moun- tain touring due to the engine going dead while on a steep grade because of the driver’s attempt to go up in a higher gear than he should. When the engine stops, the car slides backwards and in many cases goes over the edge of the road if the brakes are not in the best possible condition and the driver does not apply them without losing | his head. Built along lines very sim- | ilar to the harrow used by farmers and. drawn over plowed land to level it and break the clods, the novel | brake device shown in the U accompanying illustration is designed to prevent automo- biles used in mountain tour- ing from running backwards Removable bow] Screen fi-4d and cooled by passing through a bowl of water before reaching the stem chassis frame directly back of the engine and lowered into contact with the road by means of a system of levers controlled by a hand lever and notched quadrant in the driver’s cab. The sharp, tooth-like points of the harrow dig into the ground and hold the car in place until the engine can _ be started again and the clutch thrown in. They also serve to hold the car until it gets under way. This eliminates the danger of starting under the same conditions without the device, in which case the conventional brakes must be released before the clutch is thrownin. This might allow the car to gain sufficient backward momentum to pre- vent the engine from start- ing and permit the car to drop off the road if the brakes cannot hold it. A Water-Cooling and Purifying Pipe for the Fastidious Smoker HE smoker will welcome the appear- ance of a pipe which not only cools the smoke before it reaches the pipe stem but purifies it as well. Clarence J. Graham and Joseph A. Farris, of Chicago, IIl., are the inventors. The secret of the cooling and purifying pipe is the bowl of water situated di- rectly below the bowl which contains the tobacco. A metal tube extends from the tobacco bowl down into the water bowl. At the top of the water bowl is an outlet pipe. By puffing the pipe, smoke is drawn through the metal tube, down through the water and out of the outlet pipe through the stem. Thus all smoke passes through the bowl of water before it reaches the smoker’s mouth.

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wo = wa te Sew VSS ae eer ewe are eee Orrell =—S Mm MH nan Oo OD re es Are Common in Scotland HE sheep of the western islands of Scotland are almost as sty- lish as the dogs that ride in auto- mobiles on our own Fifth Ave- nue, in New York city. The canine aristocrats have occa- sional cavities in their teeth filled with gold, but the Scot- tish sheep have their entire set gold-plated before they have any chance to decay. The gold-plating is due to gold dust in the soil. As early as 1536 Hector Boece, Bishop of Aber- deen, speaks of the remarkable | Be appearance of the sheep that ‘4 a4 roam “the golden mountain” in central Aberdeenshire. Their wool is yellow, their flesh is red, flecked, as it were, with saffron, and their teeth Popular Science Monthly Gold-Plated Teeth for Sheep Vj sie The combination suit which is an excellent substitute are the hue of gold, he says. for waists and skirts -or shirts and pantaloons To Keep Out Burglars, Leave Your Key in the Door D. E. CURTISS, of Spokane, Washing- ton, has invented a key-hole guard. Leave your key in the door at night, and it will be impossible for anyone to insert another key in your door. The guard can be fitted to any door. It consists of a plate which slides horizontally just in front of the body of the lock, and in the inner side of the door. On locking the door from this side, this plate is moved by turning a knob. The The Overall Has Entered the Fashion Sheets OR the first time, perhaps, since the days when Indian women tilled the land while their lords and masters hunted or fished or fought, American soil has felt the pressure of the feminine foot on spade and fork. It has been no light, inefficient pres- sure, either, nor is it hampered by skirts. The approved costume for the really-in- earnest farmer, whether man or woman, is a combination overall suit, which not only affords perfect protection shank of the key, being horizontal, is caught and held in the horizontal slot in the plate that has just been moved. At left: A plate slides just in front of the body of the lock end on the inner side of the door to right The shank of the key is caught in the horizontal slot and held so that nothing from the outside can move it Door key hale” ‘Lock plate but is comfortable and easi- ly put on. The illustration above shows the different styles applicable for wom- en’s wear. Those for men are very similar in design. They are made of khaki, denim or other suitable ma- terial. Even the children are not left out. Their suits are made exactly like those of the adults, since their bit in the farm work is equally as important. Khaki hats meet the ap- proval of the youngsters for topping off these utility suits. Women prefer the old-fashioned sunbonnet.

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A Lift Deck for Automobile Freight Cars It doubles the automobile capacity of a car and does not interfere with the shipping of other goods at the present time, a temporary deck or floor is built within the car at the time of each shipment. On this, one row of automobiles is placed above another row loaded on the main floor of the car. In this way the capacity of the car is prac- tically doubled. But this method of utiliz- ing space is expensive and it injures the car to have the decks continually in- stalled and removed. Consequently the i: shipping automobiles in car load lots automobile shipper is up against a serious © problem. Joseph C. Youngblood, of Atwood, Kan- sas, has invented a lift deck which seems to meet all requirements. The mechanism necessary to operate the deck will in no way interfere with the shipping of goods other than automobiles. The deck can be lowered to the car floor so that automobiles can be loaded upon it with ease. It can then be raised to its elevated position and automobiles loaded into the lower portion of the car with- out interfering with it. The lift deck is raised by I means of, pistons traveling / Position of automobile when raised on lift deck within four cylinders. The I {I lower ends of the four cylin- | ders extend below the car floor and are connected with a pipe that extends to a tank containing oil and a pump. raised deck Automobile under The upper lift deck for automobiles and the mechanism that elevates it An electric motor and the pump which it operates are contained in a separate com- partment carried under the car floor. The oil supply tank is situated next to the pump. When the deck is to be raised the motor is started and the pump forces oil from the storage tank into the pipe line and thence into the cylinders to force the pistons up- ward. When the deck, with its load of automobiles, has been raised to its upper- most position, pins are inserted in the cylin- ders to hold the deck permanently in position. This prevents any possible back- flow of the oil from the cylinders and re- lieves the cylinders and pipe line frora continued pressure. When the deck is to be lowered, the pins are removed to permit the free movement of the piston rods. After reaching its destina- tion the car can be unloaded without any additional equip- ment or tools. The automo- biles on the car floor are first removed and when they are all out the upper deck is lowered and the cars on it removed as were the cars on a the deck floor. Spaced floor * plates support the automo- * biles while they are being shipped, but wooden beams can besubstituted. The sup- ply tank, pumps and motor may be placed in any part of the car that is convenient. * Lifting | mechanism The lift deck takes the place of the expensive temporary upper deck and does not interfere with the carrying of goods other than automobiles. It can be raised or lowered in a minimum of time 592 “ + TNR a

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my Spilling the Garbage T looks as if the ideal garbage can had been invented at last. William Dowie, of New York city, is the inventor and his can is about everything that a garbage can can be. It is dustless, odorless and noiseless. You can turn it over without spilling it because the lid is clamped tight across the top. The lid prevents flies, @ dogs, cats, mice and rats from touching the contents. It is strictly a non-disease spreading can. There are rubber bumpers on the top and bottom which make practically noiseless when it is being rolled across the sidewalk or street and dumped in a wagon. Fur- thermore, the rubber pro- longs the life of the can, protecting it against rough handling. Popular Science Monthly You Can Roll This Can Without 593 instance. It is patterned somewhat after a pistol and by its use a hole can be drilled f ger- The lid on the can prevents the contents from spilling and keeps flies from Drilling with This Electric Drill Is Like Shooting a Pistol LECTRICITY is rap- idly tak- ing all the ~A back- AS breaking exertion out of every kind of work. If all the inven- tions based up- on it turn out satisfactorily and as Many more are brought out in the future the old axiom about earn- ing our bread by the sweat of our brow will lack pun- gency. Look at the electric drill shown in the accompany- ing photograph, for spreading disease in iron or steel with the ease of shooting a pistol. This electric drill has a trig- like on-and-off switch which makes it possible to handle the instrument without fatigue. The trigger switch also prevents the breakage of drill bits for the reason that it is possible to control the drill without releasing the grip to the slightest ex- and allowing the weight of the device to sag on the drill bit. The workman instinct- ively pulls the trigger to shut off the current when the drill bit passes through the metal being drilled, thereby saving cur- rent expense. The chuck spindle can be adjusted to fit all sizes of bit stocks so that the drill can be used in nooks and corners where there is not much room, and in hard- to-reach spots, as shown in the accompany- ing illustration. The cover of the motor armature of “Shooting”’ a hole into a hard-to-reach spot with an electrically operated pistol-shaped drill the drill is per- forated for cooling - to prevent over- heating. The drill weighs a trifle over thirteen pounds complete and drives the bit at nine hun- dred revolutions per minute with no exertion on the part of the operator. The ease with which it is operated is not the only at- traction of the elec- tric drill, however. The hole is made in a small fraction of the time required by the ordinary method and is per- fectly clean and true.

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Popular Science Monthly in the glass, so that when the bottle is taken up at night in the dark it is easily distinguished by the sense of touch. There is a smooth space left on the side of the glass on which labels telling the kind of poison that is contained in the bottle may be pasted. But should the label drop off or become defaced, the fact that the contents of the bottle are poisonous will be obvious from the shape and design of the bottle itself. Another design is the invention of Worth R. Barringer, of Colorado. A metal clamp fits around the neck of the bottle and pro- jects two pointed segments over the cork, holding it in place and by a slight prick warning the person attempting to withdraw the cork that the contents of the bottle are poisonous. Finger Prints? N the April issue of Popvu- LAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, on page 517, there ap- peared an article de- scribing a curious fin- ger print. A Nation- al Guardsman had his finger print taken and was surprised to see the letters “UO P L E”’ on the ball of his right fore-finger. He was unable to give a reason for their pres- ence; furthermore, he did not know they were there until an imprint was taken of the finger. Now comes an explanation of the These Bottles Warn You That They method by which the mysterious letters Contain Poison Te on . finger. : W. eo irector of Evans University, in Chicago, N a bulletin on poisons, issued from the _ IIl., offers us the following: Surgeon General’s Office at Washing- “In order that you may enlighten those ton, D. C., it is stated that every year five who may have wondered how the lettering thousand people, on an average, take poison got on to ' — I i : —— pra by mistake. The Surgeon General with the words ‘Chicago an nema e that poison be sold = w#2Z7F rm ‘Wilson’ plainly visible on the and kept only in bottles of dis- fi 4 AN ridges. tinctive shape. The bottle shown try Cau “A rubber stamp was pressed in the illustration seems to be Wass SRW? _— _— wpa aoe ideal for the.purpose. Even little ————— ink had been rolled on it, an children ne the most illiterate A finger print tip of the finger had been lightly Even in the dark you would know that the bottle above with its skull and cross-bones mold contained poison The points over the cork of the bottle on the right would warn you that you had the poison bottle in hand = = a5. adults usually know that the skull Showing imprint inked. The inked finger was then ere ae of the words : f and cross-bones indicate danger. “Chicago” and pressed down on the lettering 0 The pattern is molded deep ‘‘Wilson’’ thestamp. Thismade theimprint. Is This the Secret of Curious Lettered , TOTO MR nem

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\¥ CO = oT vs TT BS Oo OD be Kitchen Luxury—The Ivory Pie-Crust Trimmers of New England EW ENGLAND has long Popular Science Monthly been famous for pie, which, if it is not the actual staff of life, at least runs the other food conr tributions a close second. In the old Dartmouth Historical Museum in New Bedford is a curious collection of quaintly carv- ed ivory instruments known then as now, in the old New England households as piecrust crimpers. New Bedford was at one time the greatest whaling port in the world. A whaling trip is by no means short. The average trip was one year. Ofttimes three or four years passed before the whaler would reach his own shores again. No doubt with thoughts of home came visions of the pies for which their house- wives were famous; for most of the curious pie-crust crimpers were carved by the whalers during their idle hours at sea from the ivory which was part of their catch. The pie-crust crimper consists of a handle and wheel which has a crimped edge so that when it is run around the sheet of thin pie crust dough it cuts the dough out with a fine serrated design. Trimmers were used not only to cut around the border of the pie but also back and forth along the top of the crust. In baking, the openings spread, leaving beautiful leaf and flower designs on top of the pie. The envelopes are fed automatically by a turn of the typewriter platen Let This Automatic Device Feed Your Envelopes SIMPLE machine designed to in- crease the efficiency of typists by auto- matically placing envelopes in proper posi- tions in typewriters has just been put on the market. The instrument consists of a framework attached to the machine and operated by the ordinary space-line lever. With one turn of the typewriter platen, the addressed envelope is forced up and out from the roll and the next one simultane- ously and automatically placed in the proper position to receive the next address. From four to six envelopes can be ad- dressed per minute by an amateur typist, thereby allowing the higher- priced stenographers to con- centrate on letter-writing; or the time saved will permit the same stenographer to do more work in the same time as formerly. The automatic envelope feeder consists of a magazine a ee ee holding one hundred and fifty envelopes and a_ framework having four steel fingers, two above the others. The upper ones, one on either side, press down on the uppermost edge _of the envelope and force it behind the platen, adjusting it in a straight position. The two lower fingers engage the en- velope inside of the flap) and Ivory pie-crust trimmers made by the old whalers who used to put in at New Bedford push it from the magazine down behind the roll, after which the address is written.

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596 It Has Stopped Raining? Then Pack Your Water- proof in Your Bag RAIN coat suitable efor the traveler weighs only thirty-two ounces and folds into a neat envelope when not in use. It is also useful to the motorist and to others who feel the need of being protected against in- clement weather and wish to avoid carry- -ing heavy garments. Though light the rain coat makes a smart appearance, and it is so small when folded that you can pack it away in your handbag. A special bag is pro- vided for it, however, which is neat ‘and incon- spicuous. folds Bomb Exits for America’s First Portable Hospital N the heart of New York city there are a number of trim frame ‘buildings which form America’s When not in use the rain coat into a neat Popular Science Monthly What You Will Need When You Go to the Training Camps F you happen to be one of the fortunate ones chosen to be transformed into officers at one of the training camps, your first impulse will probably be to pur- chase a nifty uniform, two or three pairs of classy looking shoes and a supply of vari- colored ties and socks. But nip that impulse in the bud. There are few things you will really need / at camp and most of these will be supplied you by your loving Uncle Sam; or if you must pur- chase them, you can buy them from the Govern- ment for much less than from the trade. The things you will really need and which the Government does not supply are towels and plenty of handkerchiefs. It would be advisable, too, to take with you a pair of slippers and a light bathrobe. A raincoat might be made envelope first portable hospital.. The buildings are constructed so that they can be taken apart and set up in another city within two days. All windows’ are made so that the air is ad- mitted over the heads of the patients, pre- venting adraft, and bomb exits are provided every few feet. The bomb exit is a section of the wall which toserve instead of a bathrobe and answer its own purpose as well. Have a light roll stocked with your own prt- vate toilet arti- cles, and supply yourself with a fountain pen and colored crayons for map-drawing. Cross entirely off your list of essentials the civilian suit, neck-ties and white shirts. You will have no time to wear swings out and drops. The bomb exit which affords a quick escape for both the patients and the nurses of a war hospital anything but your uniform.

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Machinery Made from Scraps The material from which it was made was : strewn about camp, and was mere junk 4. HEN the time came to pave the top t 4 WV of the Kensico Dam, in New York, i : the superintendent, George H. w Angel, didn’t go to the extra expense of 1, purchasing new paving equipment. He f took a hurried inventory of the odds and ends of machinery that lay about the con- . struction camp and decided that he could | make some machinery of his own out of it them. | , ae otis fT Our illustrations show what he did with “ a few pieces of discarded pipe, wheels, nuts, oI bolts, etc. A roller was made by fitting an of | old belt-pulley with a wrought-iron handle. ‘ : The asphalt-heater was made out of an old — steel form that had been used for casting ee concrete blocks. By riveting in a false . bottom near the middle of the form, cut- 4 ting a door in the lower half at one end and i" riveting on a hinged cover and smoke stack, the heater was ready for use. The asphalt h was placed in the upper half and a wood fire was built underneath the false bottom. The mixer for the mortar was made by joining flanges to the ends of a short length of riveted steel pipe and by bolting cover plates to them. An axle with paddles ran through the center and the propelling force * was a small motor placed at one end. The machine was mounted on an old wagon body. The roadway across the top of the dam An old steel form for concrete blocks was converted into a heater is twenty-one feet wide and two thousand, five hundred feet in length. There is a cement sidewalk on one side and a concrete curb on the other, each about eight inches above the surface of the roadway gutter. The forms for the concrete were all made from scrap material which was readily obtainable at the camp, and a locomotive crane was used to transport the cement from the mixer to the roadway, where it was spread by hand. The machinery made from odds and ends gave as good service for the purpo e as new machinery. m. The mixer for the mortar is a complex affair. It is mounted on an old wagon body 597 The roller was made by equipping a discard- ed belt-pulley with a wrougint-iron handle

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598 A Lumbermen’s Camp Which Can Be Moved from Place to Place on Rails N his account of the life of the rough and ready northern woodsman, Rex Beach often painted a realistic picture of his poorly-constructed and unsanitary home. As a rule, lumber camps enjoy but a tem- porary existence, and for this reason the houses are ramshackle affairs. The logging crew live in them a few weeks and then move on to another camp. The old camp is left at the mercy of the elements and no attempt is made to Popular Science Monthly Pointers for the Inventors Working on the Submarine Problem HE Naval Consulting Board has re. ceived literally thousands of sugges- tions and plans for destroying submarines and protecting merchant ships against torpedo attack. In addition, the Secretary of the Navy has also heard from inventors on the subject. The Naval Consulting Board has considered these plans and apparently has come to the conclusion that most if not all of them are worthless, In Bulletin No. 1 repair it, unless the loggers happen that way again. In Everett, Washington, the temporary camp has been replaced by a permanent mobile camp con- sisting of railroad coaches. The coaches include kitchen, dining and bunk rooms for the men, blacksmith which was published recently by the Sec- retary of the Con- sulting Board, No. 13 Park Row, New York city, and which bears the title ‘““The Submarine and Kin- dred Problems,”’’ the difficulties that must be considered by the inventor are in- structively summar- ized. That Bulletin ought to be in the shop, engineers’ and administrative off- ces, as well as equipment for heat- ing, lighting and water supply systems. When the logging company wishes to move its camp to another part of the country, the cars are taken to that section by locomo- tives. Thus the camp cost is not only cheaper, but the men live amidst surround- ings that are as near ideal in point of con- venience as the local conditions permit. The interior of the blackmith shop in the portable logging camp. There are facilities for every kind of mechanical work that could possibly be needed hands of every man who thinks that he has solved the sub- marine problem. It disposes of the electromagnetic devices suggested for detecting and destroying submarines; it dismisses the idea of ‘charging the sea with electricity’’; considers the best and worst methods of protecting a ship against submarine attack; dwells upon the airplane as a device for discovering the sub- marine; comments on underwater sound-re- One car supplies steam which heats all the cars, and an- othercarcon- tains a dyna- mo which provides current for one hundred and sixty- four incan- descent lights. A third car is devoted to a cording de- aes et vice, work- SZ: ing on the microphone principle; brushesaside the use of nets or screens as a protection for cargo- carrying ships, and points out the merits and _ defects of present bathrooms and laundry. This logging camp consists of railroad coaches which have their own heating and lighting plant. methods of The camp is portable destruction. —

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e~w Ss | Ow =” we Eee ~“! ‘y= ’ , ~~ we we . od oC ww ewe eS wer. F We “mm we ©) CD F & at n ND ete Fe es — Making It Easy to See the “Movies” How tedious inserts can be avoided and how the clock can be watched Billings, any explanation that needs to be made in a motion-picture can appear at the same time that the action is going on. The inventor calls his contrivance for projecting captions a “‘descriptograph.”’ In general appearance it looks not unlike an ordinary stereopticon. In the place where lantern slides ordinarily go, however, is a large disk having a number of radial openings. These radial openings contain the captions to be thrown on the screen and go through the field of the lenses on the lantern one after another, being moved along by an electromagnet, one radial open- ing ata time. On the film are little metal rivets or eyelets. When the film slides through the guiding and feed rollers, these metal rivets make an electrical contact with the rollers, completing a_ circuit through the electromagnet on the auxiliary lantern, or ‘‘descripto- graph,” down in the orchestra pit. This causes the descripto- graph to throw a fresh caption on the screen. Just before the ac- tion on the main film is to change again, another rivet appears on the film, makes proper contact, and causes the electromagnet to’ T Biltines to the invention of Dr. J. W. The disk which contains the captions printed for the screen in radial openings The brass eyelet is the space left for the caption mtadvertising Hour hand attached \ seg unger wheel Clock mechanism Drive gear Revolving disk A machine for projecting both advertise- ments and a clock-face to tell the time of day pull a new caption into place. The whole plan is here illustrated. Another device somewhat like the descriptograph is also being marketed. This contrivance, however, is for the purpose of projecting advertisements in- stead of captions. It has a special screen of its own, much smaller and to one side of the main screen as is shown in the il- lustration. In conjunction with its advertisement-showing fea- tures, this machine also projects the hands of a clock and a clock dial at the same time, this latter feature being an integral part of the advertisement. Since people attend- ing the show will inevitably look at the clock now and then to keep track of the time, the clock serves the special purpose of attracting attention to the advertisements. As is shown in the illustration, the clock hands project inward from the rims of two large and hubless gearwheels through which light from the lenses of the lantern passes. In practically the same focal plane as that of the hands a wheel revolves in which are some half-dozen regularly spaced openings about the size of a quarter. Transparent celluloid disks cover these small openings, and on these the advertisements are painted or printed. By means of a suitable escape- ment device, this wheel shows six adver- ‘tisements in rotation. 599

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600 A Wooden Lighthouse Candlestick “* and How It Is Made T is easy to make a woode stick in the shape of a lighthouse. The one illustrated is about inches high and about four inches in diameter.. The lighthouse is white, with yel- low and red ornamentation; the windows are painted. The saucer in which the lighthouse stands can be used to receive burnt matches. It is nailed or glued to the lighthouse. ‘Every lighthouse keeper has a daughter. Carve her out separately if you like and glue her into the saucer so as to have her leaving the door. Let her dress be yellow and her belt red. The depth of the saucer is about two inches. It is painted red. These colors can be varied to suit the tones of the room or the own A hole is cut in the top of the lighthouse to allow the candle to be plac Popular Science Monthly n candle- Six a The lighthouse candlestick makes a pleasing table decoration. The colors are varied to suit the fancy er’s fancy. der. ed inside. tures to the exhaust pipe. The exhaust part of the valve opens when the piston has reached the limit of its downward travel on the power stroke. . approaches the top of the cylin- As the piston. der in the usual manner, the valve is rotated counter clockwise by means of gears which are securely fastened to the crankshaft and valve respectively. They are ina ratio of two to one and are tied by means of a suitable belt or chain. The by-pass in the valve remains open until the piston has reached the limit of its upward travel. When the piston starts back the aper- ture in the valve is rotated opposite the aperture in the cylinder head. The influx of gas is through the aperture in the cylinder head, through the rotary valve and its aperture, and through the aperture in the cylinder head to the cylin- . The valve aperture remains open until the piston has reached the limit of its downward travel. Getting Rid of the Poppet-Valves on a Gasoline Engine HE trend of the times in engine construc- tion as well as in every intake other kind of manufac- ture is toward simplicity. Wherever one thing can be made to do the work of two or even more parts, nothing is left untried to facilitate the merger. A western manufacturer has brought out a new gasoline engine in which the poppet- valve, camshaft and associated parts are eliminated and a common rotary valve substituted in their stead to perform the same functions. When the rotary valve is in a position opposite the apertures in the cylinder head, the burnt gases pass out through the aper- —— ——__—— In this way the mechanism of the engine is so simplified that there is little chance of anytiing getting out of order and the life of the engine is considerably lengthened on account of the elimination of friction. Exhaust MWe ter in Section through in- take and exhaust portion of cylinder head on angular line gas supply When the rotary valve is opposite the apertures in the cylinder head, the burnt gases pass out through the apertures to the exhaust pipe

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—S ——_ —_. ¥. oe ea o's ae. ae ee” ee ee ee Oe sf f A Simple and Attractive Loading Coil RDINARY loading coils are often QO made in very compact form, as when wound between two hard rubber disks. Though very neat in appearance, such coils are hard to make without the aid of suitable ma- chinery for turning out the rubber disk ends, which are expensive if bought ready made. If the method of con- struction de- scribed in this ‘article is used, however, such coils can be easily made in a few minutes at a very low cost, and not only will they give the best of satisfaction, but they will present a very smart appearance. The principal feature of this coil is embodied in the ends, which are small ten cent disk phonograph records. These can be bought for about five cents apiece second-hand at a record exchange shop, or in many cases at the 5 and 10 cent stores, wherever old records that do not sell well are reduced in price. These composition disks are about 514 in. in diameter, and can be separated any desired distance by cardboard washers. The remaining space around the circum- ference of the cardboard and between the walls formed by the records is wound with fine wire, say about No. 28. The records can be turned so that the grooved sides face each other, thus leaving the smooth faces turned out and displaying the patent dates and numbers which are embossed on the bottom of the records. The composition and cardboard disks are held together by binding posts passing A coil of wire placed between record disks 601 Amateur - Electrician r-And Wireless Operator through them near the center, or by several small copper rivets, arranged in a circle. These rivets may be used as con- tacts for a rotary switch, with which the inductance of the coil can be varied. After the holes for the binding posts and rivets have been made, and before the wire is wound on, all the disks to be used should be shellacked together in the proper positions, and dried uftder a flat weight of say 5 Ibs. The coil illustrated is a single step affair with only two binding posts. By making two separate windings, and fitting the coil with four binding posts, considerable ad- vantage is obtained over the single step type. With the latter scheme the instru- ment can be used as a straight tuning coil with two variations of inductance, or the separate windings can be so coupled as to form an inductive tuner. It can be used to increase the wavelength range of primaryand secondary of any loose coupled tuning coil. Instruments made in this manner must be handled with reasonable care, both in the making and use, as the composition ends, while almost as strong as hard rubber of the same thickness would be, are too thin to be banged about indiscriminately. However in case of breakage the cost of renewal is slight.—R. V. CLARK. Using a Bicycle Pump for a Water Rhieostat WATER rheostat can be quickly made from an old bicycle hand-pump. Remove the metal cap through which the rod passes, and substitute a plug of wood or cork. Through the center of this plug a hole should be bored, its diameter being identical with that of the rod. Next remove the plunger disk and thoroughly clean the rod so it will be free from grease or rust. Wire leads should also be soldered to both casing and rod for electrical con-

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602 nections. After closing the old air outlet of the casing, fill the pump chamber with water, and push the plunger through the hole in the plug. After the rheostat has been connected in an electrical circuit, a resistance of varying degrees may be obtained by merely manipulating the pump handle. This apparatus is very useful for experimental work, where it is necessary to have a very careful regulation of the cur- rent.—K. M. COGGESHALL. Transmitting Wireless Messages Underground Without Aerial IRELESS messages can be transmit- ted without any aerial by using at each station two ground terminals not less than 200 ft. apart. One ground should ex- tend but a few feet below the surface of the earth; the other should be sunk to a much greater depth, or better still, attached to a gas or water pipe. THe receiving instruments are the same as when an aerial A transmitting set with ground connections for sending messages without an aerial is used, but at the transmitter a buzzer replaces the spark coil. An _ ordinary buzzer may be used with a thumb screw to tighten the armature so as to obtain a shrill hum rather than a buzz. A taut piano wire is even better than an armature. A small, portable outfit can send and receive up to five miles by using a water- pipe ground, or up to three miles by using two ground rods at about 50 ft. apart. In the country, where there are no local electrical disturbances such as those caused by trolley cars, a tuner is unnecessary. For station work a tuner should be used, and an army field buzzer generating high frequency currents will considerably in- crease the sending radius. Popular Science Monthly Using an outfit very similar to the one described, Dr. H. Barringer Cox, of Santa Barbara, California, has succeeded in sending signals some forty miles. He Manes Key |, Buzzer i Detector ‘ TROT OR an | Metal plate Ground eg Diagram of connections with the instru- ments and the ground for the wireless set | ~~ S WT PANS 7A WQS declares that with a few slight changes he will be able to increase his sending radius to twice that distance. When perfected, this system may be valuable in military field work, as it does away with the necessity for laying a telegraph line or erecting an aerial— J. E. Hasty. A Flexible Spline Used for a Draughtsman Curve F one adjustable curve could be ob- tained draughtsmen would readily ap- preciate its value and prefer it to others. The illustration shows such an adjustable curve-making device that is simple and convenient. With this device it is possible to obtain a great variety of curves quickly and easily, that will fit to a fraction of a degree. Another advantage of this curve is that an arc of a given radius may be drawn any length desired. od & a c+ A curve that is adjustable to a fraction of a degree to make an arc of a given radius a The curved piece A may be made of steel or suitable celluloid. The fine threaded rod B connects the ends of the bow at C and C. A thumbscrew E 1s used for adjusting the bow to obtain the required curve. The device may be made in any size.—NEY.

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inventions that have been developed during the great war—inventions that have displayed not merely human but diabolic ingenuity in their effectiveness in destroying human life. There are the : British ‘‘tanks,” and the German gas bombs which have accounted for many a good man. But not all are of such deadly character. Side by side with these weap- ons of destruction are many of more enduring worth, and high among these rank the motor wireless trucks, or lorries as they are called in England. It is quite impossible to overestimate the importance of wireless in the great war, but the part that it plays differs with the character of the fighting. No army now but is equipped with wireless con- trivances. The French use | . Yun have heard much of the amazing SS le coran late - : service in the British the de Forest system; the Rus- sians and Italians, the Mar- coni; the Germans and Austrians, the Telefunken; and the British use two sys- tems. One is the Leyland, the other is the Marconi —the standard 1% K.W. set—fitted in a Daimler motor truck. But though they all vary in de- tails, in principle Army in 7 © ww ww SS ee Iron clamp to hold. mast Switch board ~ Socket for heel of mast Multiple tuner, Detector, Transformer, Rotary, Condenser, Etc.’ vw Sv we fy Cp Oe, Sending Wireless Messages Under Fire Mobile wireless stations on the western front By Captain A. P. Corcoran, Late of British Army Captain A. P. Cor- 608 they are the same. essentials. A more compact contrivance than this traveling station it would be ex- tremely difficult to find. The body of the truck is about 12 ft. by 6. The entrance, of course, is at the rear. At the far end of the car is a bench 3 ft. high by 4 ft. deep, ,on which are placed the multiple tuner, the magnetic detector, the magnetic key, the operating key, telephone condenser and earth arrester. Underneath, the space is divided by a thick piece of board. On one side are placed the jigger, the aerial induc- tance, high tension condenser, sliding inductance, spark gapand transformer; while, on the other, are the rotary converter and a small dynamo, the starter and field regulator being fitted on the side of the vehicle. Running along the truck, then on either side from door to bench, comes a locker 18 in. high by 18 in. deep. In this are stored the aerial, one set of aerial poles, insulators, spanners, etc. These poles telescope into 5 ft. lengths, which can be neatly stowed away, when not in use. As these motor-trucks are designed both as traveling and fixed stations, it is necessary to equip them with two sets of They are alike in all in active France Lockers Socket for heel of mast Steel mast for a fixed station A motor-truck, designed for both traveling and fixed stations, which carries two sets of aerials

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a SEE RES EEE PEPE gS SB 604 Popular Science Monthly aerials. Hence the two sets of poles. The cog-wheel contrivance, operated by a telescopic type is the one used for mobile _ handle, at the foot of the mast. They give purposes. For the other, theset consistsof a stretch roughly of about 100 ft. and carry a 120-ft. steel mast, made up in 12 ft. four wires in parallel. Their power js derived from the truck Laying the earth mats from the motor bus used for a wireless station sections. It is carried underneath the truck. When the latter set is to be erected, the pieces are first laid on the ground, fitted to- gether, and then raised to a perpendicular, in which position they are held by eight wirestays. The aerial, in this case, engine which drives the dyn- amo, which in turn feeds the rotary converter. On the retreat from Mons, during those terrible early weeks of the war, these lor- ries did wonderful work. Then everything was in a state of chaos, while General French’s “‘Contemptible Little Army,” as the Kaiser was pleased to term it, fight- ing every step of the way, was slowly retiring before the hordes of Prussians and Bavarians. All cables were cut by the terrific shelling, and fresh ones were laid only to be blown up the next minute. Then the trucks stood out, con- spicuous by their ef- ficiency. There were just three of these motor sets in use at the time, divided among the moving infantry. Close behind the line, Soa ae oan they kept up a constant ies stream of communica- : tion between the fight- a , ers and General Head- quarters. consists of eight wires, One man in a motor-truck receiving And how those oper- arranged umbrella- station stuck to his post for thirty- ators stuck to their fashion, which, at- tached to the truck of the mast, touch the ground at a distance of 20 ft. from its foot. The mobile type, on the other hand, has two sets of poles. The front pole is usually about 50 ft. high. When in position, it is fitted into a socket just alongside the driver, and is clamped to the top oi the wagon, so as to be perfectly rigid. The back mast, which is also about 50 ft. long, is likewise fixed in a socket. Protruding at an angle of about 25 deg., it is supported in its place by four wire stays. Both these poles, as I have said, are tele- scopic. They are opened out by a nine hours without sleep or rest posts! In the confu- The interior of a French motor-truck with a soldier- operator transmitting a message in field operations

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‘vy Ws @ Soe eeu So”. UN Fe Ve vor sion that prevailed, they were often per- sonally forgotten, and it might be said that they forgot themselves. I know of one man who had the ’phones on from seven o’clock one morning until ten the following night—thirty-nine hours with- out sleep or rest. And I know of another ee Vee Ye ates Motor trucks are especially fitted and equipped with apparatus as wireless stations who stuck to his post with a splinter in his calf, causing him untold physical agony. A big shell had exploded at no great distance from his station and sent one of its pieces flying through the side of the truck. But these accidental tests of physical endurance were not the only ones the men had to contend with. There were other more permanent discomforts, too. To each truck, of course, were detailed two operators, one for receiving and trans- mitting; the other for logging, filing and distributing. Usually there were orderlies also on hand, four or five as a rule following on bicycles. If a message was to be delivered to any commanding officer within the truck’s sector, it was handed out to one of these. Just consider the position of those operators, penned up in that small space—very different from the accommoda- tions on shipboard or their comparatively luxurious quarters on land. Usually both men wore ’phones to. assist one another in receiving which, under the circumstances, was extremely difficult. Quiet, as you know, is considered essential for the work of a wireless man, but quiet was the last thing these men could Popular Science Monthly 605 obtain. To begin with, there was the incessant noise from the automobile en- gine; and there was the continual bumping of the truck over the uneven French pave- ment; and, last though not least, there was the occasional roar from nearby big guns. Tire Deterioration Caused by Im- proper Storage HEN exposed to the light and sun, especially to the hot summer sun, a rubber tire is likely to dry out, harden and become impaired in efficiency in conse- quence. The manufacturer wraps his tires in paper to protect them from the light when they are to be kept in stock at the factory. This also keeps them in shape. It is a good plan for the purchaser to leave the paper wrapper on extra tires, or, if the paper has been removed, to use the tire for a short time until the rubber be- comes soiled before storing it away. The pores will thus be filled by the thin coating of dust, which will have a preservative effect. Tires should not be kept in a warm place for any great length of time, as light and heat will cause the sulphur to come out on the surface and make the rubber minutely porous. After gum checking or oxidation takes place, the nerve or fiber - of the rubber is destroyed, with consequent bad effect upon the flexibility and dura- bility. A dark, dry room at a temperature of from 40 deg. to 50 deg. is most favorable for retarding chemical action in the rubber tread, side walls and the adhesive friction stock between the layers of fabric. When the car is laid up for the winter, or for other reasons is not used for several weeks, the stale air should be removed from the tires. Partially inflate with fresh air—enough to round out the tires and cover them with muslin or other ma- terial to protect them from the light. The car should be supported by blocks or jacks so that there will not be any weight on the tires. Paint for Use on Exterior Surfaces Should Be Left to Ripen AINT for exterior use should be allowed to stand after mixing for a day or two toripen. It has been found that paint mixed and applied at once will not begin to give as good results as that given sufficient time to ripen after mixing.

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606 A New Type of Acid-Proof Brush for Soldering Flux HE use of non-corroding paste in soldering has, in many cases, done away with the disagree- Popular Science Montily good insulation from the motor shaft with extreme lightness. To make an arm embodying these fea- tures, proceed as follows: From a piece of fiber or bakelite of suitable length and 4 able and dangerous acid brush. There are still a few jobs, however, which require an acid flux for soldering. To those who have occasion to use sol- dering acid of any kind, the non-corrosive acid brushes shown in the il- lustration should prove serviceable. ‘Both of the brushes shown employ a small - piece of rubber sponge for the brush proper, the shape shown at A. The widest part should equal the diameter of the shaft-bushing, so as to fit flush. The dimensions will, of course, vary with the size of your ring; but in any event the length of this piece should be 1 in. less than the distance be- tween faces of opposite studs. Holes B and C are for fastening to the hub on the motor-shaft. Holes D and E, tap 2-56, in. thick, cut a strip to re @ ig Sg ee, “Bre Behe. ee 4 ade iin ME eed adi aabian i sa while the handles are made as illustrated, one from an old rubber pen barrel and the other from A discarded fountain pen case anda section of tubular por- celain insulator for brush handles are for screwing on the aluminum strip shown at F. This piece is 134 in. longer than the fiber. At a point 3g in. from each end bend the aluminum at right angles. This forms the sparking surface. Now, about % in. in from the bend on both ends, curve the strip as at G. Screw it down, as shown, to the fiber arm. After screwing on the hub, mount it as shown at H. The proper adjustment of distance be- tween electrodes is accomplished by chang- ing the stationary studs. This type of rotating arm is not only extremely light, allowing a quick start, but also has the advantage of cooling rapidly, owing to the exposed surface curving away from the fiber strip. This curve should be at least 1 in. from the center for good insulation. a section of tubular porcelain insulator. The piece of sponge mentioned is forced into one end of the rubber or porcelain handle, as shown.—R. U. CLARK. Construction of a Rotating Arm for a Rotary Gap O those amateurs employing a rotary spark-gap of the type having the studs arranged in a ring about a revolving #22 GAGE SHEET __ ALUMINUM Using Resistance in Field Wiring on an Automobile Dynamo ANY times the car owner is not en- tirely familiar with thelighting system and does the wrong thing when trouble occurs. Cars are equipped with a gener- ator that will carry about six 12 c. p., 8-volt, tungsten filament bulbs. Each bulb takes about 114 amperes. If it is desired to use only a part of the bulbs at a time it 1s necessary to connect in the line a resistance equal to that used by the bulbs cut out of the circuit. This resistance should be put in the shunt field wiring to prevent the voltage from running too high. ° ° of. - p[_e° \.__ ADJUSTABLE STUD WITH LOCK NUT SPARK GAP TERMINALS A light rotating arm constructed so that it is well insulated from the motor shaft arm, the construction of this arm often presents difficulty; for it must combine

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Puce O OND + O Ne m le T= It, es se is ce ut be nt HE two articles of this series which have already been published, in the August and September issues, out- lined the simplest ways to learn the Morse Code used in radio telegraphy and ex- plained a buzzer-telegraph line which could be used for code practice. The cooperation of two students in the manner indicated makes it possible for both to advance far more quickly than could either one working alone. By placing themselves at the opposite ends of an electrical communica- tion system (the buzzer-telegraph line) and by relying upon it for the interchange of messages and for correction of errors of transmission, both operators learn to de- pend upon their own efforts to signal correctly. It aes becomes evi- UNE WIRE dent at once that clear, uniform for- mation of the Morse dots and dashes is essential to real tele- graphing, since poor sending at once brings its natural consequence of incorrect receiving. The greatest temptation of the novice telegrapher, viz., to send too fast, is quickly shown to be productive of nothing but trouble; to send so fast that the words run together, or so fast that incorrect Morse characters are formed, or so fast that the receiving oper- ator cannot put the words down easily and completely, is to show one of the clearest signs of incompetence. The experienced operator suits the speed of his sending to the particular conditions, and never trans- mits the words so fast that the receiving operator cannot ‘“‘copy”’ all of them. .To adapt one’s gait to the man at the other end of the line, be it wire or wireless, is not only common courtesy but has been found by long experience to result in the ac- curate transmission of the greatest num- Wireless Work in Wartime. III. By John L. Hogan, Jr. LINE } WIRE Lt: Diagram showing how three stations may be connected with the same line wire and other units may be added as desired 607 ber of words in any given length of time. Dangers of Student Practice Although the buzzer practice line has the advantages indicated above, there is a danger in having no sending to listen to except that of a companion student. Starting from the ground, with no tele- graphic experience, one is likely to make some mistakes even though the greatest careisused. It is most difficult to form the complex characters like ‘Q”’ (dash-dash- dot-dash) and ‘‘Y”’ (dash-dot-dash-dash) correctly, and a beginner is always likely to interject an extra dot-space or two. Con- sequently ‘“‘Q” is made to sound like “M A” (dash-dash, space, dot-dash), and ___._~‘‘‘Y’’ seems LINE WIRE very much . like “N M.” This defect may be no- . ticed after the word “YOU” is written out as ““NMOU” several times, but the way the student usually cor- rects the fault K is by increas- t FI6.8 ing the space between ‘Y”’ and the next letters. This has the effect of setting off the “NM” character, but is not a real cure, since the dash-dot-dash-dash of the letter ‘‘Y” has not been smoothed out into perfect form. There are a large number of errors like these which creep into the sending of students, and, occasionally, even into that of experienced operators. They are always dangerous, however, and often lead to serious misunderstandings. Listen to your own sending, and to that of your partner, and try to make sure that each dot, dash and space is formed and timed correctly. You can weed out these troubles yourself by giving the Morse characters keen enough study; but the best plan is to have some experienced operator listen to your trans- mission and criticize it for you. After you

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608 have learned all the letters, and are able to call them to mind easily, try to get some trained wireless operator to call on you and send over your buzzer line. If you will send the alphabet through from A to Z several times, and follow it with the Onl i. - J 5 . PIVOT = O FIG.9 SPRING A rotating disk with notches in its circum- ference to make the dots, dashes and spaces classical sentence, ‘‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” (whicn contains every letter of the alphabet), he will soon be able to judge wherein your sending is in need of improvement, and to correct you. Be sure to pay strict attention to his sugges- tions, for they will probably be valuable to you. After your sending has been passed on by a seasoned operator, try to have him send for you a little while. Ask him to send so slowly that you can get every letter, and pay close attention to the smoothness with which he forms the dot and dash combina- tions. If you can, have him take the key at the station at one end of your line, and go to the other end yourself. By exchanging a few messages with him, and _ listening sharply to his style of Morse sending, as well as by having him note the imperfec- tions in your sending, you can do a great deal toward perfecting yourself in the art of telegraphing. Three-Station Lines Occasionally it is possible to run the buzzer telegraph line by the home of a wireless operator, and to install a third station in his house. If he is willing to help you out, he will send from a newspaper for half an hour or so each evening, and then let you send to him for ten or fifteen minutes. This sort of practice will be exceedingly vaiuable, if it can be arranged. Sometimes half a dozen students wish to get on the same buzzer-telegraph wire and to practice together. Fig. 8 shows how Popular Science Monthly three stations may be connected with the same line wire, and identical station-units may be added almost without limit. Pressing the key K at any one of them will operate its buzzer Z, by reason of closing the circuit from the battery B through the buzzer magnet windings, and the signal- tone of the buzzer will be reproduced in the telephones 7 at all of the stations. It is only necessary to keep the insulation of the line wire L L L fairly good, so as to prevent leakage, and to make a good connection to earth through a scraped water, gas or steam pipe at each of the points marked E in the diagram Fig. 8. The higher the resistance of the telephones, up to several thousand ohms, and the more powerful the buzzers and batteries, the better the line will work when a comparatively large num- ber of stations are added to it. If the signals in any of the telephones are found to be too loud, their terminals may be shunted by a resistance of fifty or a hundred ohms or thereabouts (the best amount being found by trial), as shown in Fig. 5 (last month’s article). It is not always easy or even possible to get a wireless operator to visit your home and try out your buzzer line; if you find this difficult, it is a good plan to call at some local telegraph office and to try to pick up a few pointers from the operators there. Although the line telegraphers in the United States use the American Morse code, which differs as to some of its charac- ters from the International Morse used in wireless, the two systems have much in common and a few words of criticism from a skilled line operator will often be of inestimable value to the student. Copying Perfect Signals Such a plan, however, does not give the F16.10 Another type of automatic sender in which a tape is used having holes in it for the letters student any opportunity to listen to and copy perfectly formed Morse characters at gradually increasing speeds. The two-

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i I, tl id at no such help can be secured, -and forth along the irregu- student plan of learning will of course develop both the speed and reliability needed, a little at a time, but for the best results there should be some way to check and eliminate possible errors in sending which may pass by both students quite unobserved. The best way to take care of this difficulty is by the cooperation of a LINE WIRE Popular Science Monthly 609 of the alphabet singly and in regular order, and also in mixed order. This last named arrangement is especially desirable for practice, since it is almost impossible to anticipate the letters about to be sent, and the student is forced to listen closely and think quickly in writing the letters as they occur in what LINEWIRE == = amounts to a long skilled operator, as explained above. If the next best plan is to use an automatic sender of some sort. Such an auto- transmitter, driven by clock- work or by a small electric motor, can be used in self- instruction or by a group of students. Several types are available, but the two most employed use metal disks or paper tapes already pre- pared and carrying various combinations of words and letters in common _ usage. The Disk Sender The operation of the metal disk type is indicated in Fig. 9, where the disk itself is shown rotating in the direction of the arrow and having notches cut around its circum- ference to correspcnd with dots, dashes and spaces. As the disk re- volves, the point on the spring arm P moves back lar teeth, and the contacts A and B are brought to- gether and separated to form dots and dashes. When the contacts are pressed together the bat- tery circuit from the dry esol cells D through the buzzer _ jyterrogarion Z is closed by way of the _ pprentuesis pivot J, spring Sand bind- — quotation ing post C, and the buzzer _pouste DASH sounds. A short tooth on FIG 12 the disk produces a dot signal, and a long tooth a dash. Thus the notches shown in Fig. 9 would produce dot-dash, space, dash-dot-dot-dot, or the letters ‘‘A’’ and “B’’ separated by a space. The metal signal-disks are made up in great variety, and are interchangeable so as to form complete messages. For beginning of practice there are disks giving the letters SCOON DUP WD = PERIOD Diagram of connections for an letel & outa’ d automatic sender in a line Pletely out of mind an The numerals and the most used punctuation marks in telegraphy cipher word. Several forms of the disk sender are made, under the trade name of ‘‘Omni- graph,” in which the disks are rotated either by hand or by clockwork. The automatically driven type is by far the best for seri- ous work, since its speed may easily be adjusted to almost any rate which oc- curs in telegraphy, and, once started, the instru- ment may be put com- full attention given to writing out the letters and words pro- duced by the buzzer. The Paper Tape Transmitter Another sort of automatic sender is shown in Fig. 10, in which a cut paper tape passes between a spring contact and a metal roller. The sketch shows how the “‘slip’’ is threaded over a guide rol- ler G and between the two driving rollers E and F which turn in the direc- tions indicated by the ar- rows. The spring contact H bears down on the paper, and, when a hole in the tape comes uncer it, makes contact with the metal roller F. This closes the battery circuit from the cells B through the buzzer Z, and the buzzer reproduces the dots and dashes cut in the paper strip. On the left is shown the letter ‘‘R’’ (dot-dash-dot) and on the right the letters ‘‘A’’ (dot-dash) and “T” (dot-dot). An automatic transmitter of this general sort, in which the tapes are cut to give various word and letter combina- tions, is sold under the name of the ‘“‘Audi- © ble Alphabet.’”’ The instrument is driven een FS a RE SET ARES

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610 by turning a small crank by hand, but it is not difficult to gear a small electric motor to operate it and thus to afford true automatic operation. Any sort of automatic transmitter can be made very helpful in learning the code. The apparatus is not very expensive, and if five or six students combine to purchase one together the cost to each individual becomes extremely low when compared with the benefits secured from having a tireless sender of perfect Continental Morse signals which will give practice as long as it is wanted. Fig. 11 shows how to connect the automatic sender at one of the stations of a multiple-station buzzer-telegraph line. The balance of the stations are wired in ac- cordance with Fig. 8. The automatic sending station of Fig. 11 may be chosen to be somewhere near the middle of the tele- graph line, so as to give about equal strength signals at both ends; the line wire extending to the other instruments is in- dicated by the broken line at the top of the figure. The telephones 7 are shown shunted by the signal-intensity regulating resistance R, and connected between the line wire and the vibrator post contact of the buzzer Z. The two outer terminals of the buzzer are connected in series with the battery B, a single-pole double-throw switch S, and either the hand-sending key K or the auto- matic transmitter A. The armature post of the buzzer is connected with ground at E. When the switch S is in position J the hand key is connected, and signals may be trans- mitted in the usual way. When the switch arm is in position 2, the key is cut out and the automatic transmitter placed in circuit. The signals which it sends out are trans- mitted both up and down the line, and may be copied simultaneously by all the students at their respective home stations. Morse Practice on the Buzzer Line By arranging a definite time schedule for running the automatic sender, it is possible to work out a scheme of daily Morse practice at gradually increased speeds, until finally all the learners are able to write down messages at a speed of from twenty to twenty-five five-letter words per minute. To make the practice comprehen- sive it is necessary to arrange for periods of sending practice for each of the stations, in which one student sends messages or press ‘notes from the’ newspapers and all the others copy his signals. The messages as copied by each one should be carefully Popular Science Monthly compared with the original as it was sent out; errors in receiving can be located by reason of their appearing on only one of the copies, while errors in transmitting should show up in all of the copies. Practice of this sort, varied by the exchange of mes- sages between various pairs of stations on the line, will give the most valuable training which it is possible to secure outside of actual radio telegraphy. In the first article the Morse symbols corresponding to the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet were given. Fig. 12 shows the numerals and the more usual punctuation marks. These should all be memorized and used in the message practice. Entire familiarity with the code as thus completed will come with the daily sending of dispatches, and a few months of this work should make any apt student a fairly skilful telegrapher. In the next article the formal methods of sending messages with full preambles, ac- cording to the International Radiotelegraph Convention, will be explained and illus- trated, and the problems of reading messages and signals through interference from other radio stations and from ‘‘static” or atmospheric electrical disturbances will be discussed. (To be continued) The Underwriter’s Knot for Flexible Cords LEXIBLE cords used to suspend a lamp should be arranged so that there is no stress or strain coming on the binding posts or con- necting screws. To provide a suitable holding means, knotsshould be tied in the cord to make them take all the weight of the socket and fixture from the ends of the wire. The successive steps in tying the knot are shown in the illus- tration. While these knots may appear te be of no use they are absolutely necessary, not only to relieve the strain, but to fulfill the requirements of the underwriters’ code A knot tied in line in such a way as to take the strain from a fixture for safety in insurance.

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Making a Practical Vacuum Cleaner I.—Details in the construction of the universal motor By L. E. Swindell piece of apparatus to construct, and it will do the work equally as well as a standard make. However, building it yourself will not reduce the cost to any appreciable degree. The only thing gained will be the satisfaction of saying “I made it myself.” The essential parts are a high speed electric motor to drive the centrif- ugal fan, and a suitable case with a shoe or nozzle to collect the dust from the floor and discharge it into a cloth bag which retains the dust and releases the air. The following materials are necessary in the construction of the vacuum cleaner. T vi machine described is not a difficult MATERIALS FOR THE Motor go pieces transformer iron 0.015 in. thick, 3144 in. sq. go Pn a iron 0.015 in. thick, 2 in. sq. 1 shaft, cold rolled steel 3g in. diameter and 74% in. long 2 bolts 4 in. diameter and 4 in. long, threaded 14 in. on each end 2 hardwood blocks 314 by 3% by 1 in. I piece iron 54 by 7 by \% in. 2 iron washers 1/4 in. diameter, 3¢-in. hole 2 8-32 brass screws I in. long 2 pieces brass tubing 14 by 4 by 3% in. (inside measure) 4 fiber washers 54 in. square, -in. hole, 1/16 in. thick I commutator, 22 segments ¥ lb. No. 26 gage enameled magnet wire Y |b. No. 29 gage enameled magnet wire. MATERIALS FOR THE SHOE Enough sheet iron 1-16 in. thick 15 soft iron rivets % by %% in. 6 8-32 brass screws 14 in. long I cylinder of brass 1% in. long by & in. diameter - Y-in. hole I piece of fiber 1 in. thick 2 by 2 in. square 2 pieces iron 5% by \% by 14 in. 1 hardwood handle 3% ft. long, 11% in. diameter If you can secure a fan motor of suitable size you will save yourself considerable time and labor. For the benefit of those who cannot obtain a motor, or who wish to build their own, the necessary directions will be given for the construction. If a motor cannot be procured some machine work on a lathe and drill-press must be done. 611 The Motor The motor is of the alternating current series type, wound for use on 110-volt circuits. It may also be used on direct current. The field for use on direct current could be of solid iron, but for alternating current it must be laminated because of eddy-currents and excessive heating. The dimensions of the field magnet are given in Fig. 1. A stack of transformer iron 3) in. square and 114 in. thick should be clamped between two hardwood blocks by means of the two 4-in. bolts as shown in Fig. 2. Now proceed to turn the mass of iron and wooden blocks to a diameter of 3)4in. Use a high speed and a very sharp tool, cutting toward the lathe chuck. The center should be turned out to a diameter of 1 9/16in. The wooden blocks should now be removed and the pole pieces machined. This is the most difficult for the amateur to do. If the directions are followed and a little patience used, a neat job will result. If a row of holes are drilled between the pole pieces just inside the 2)4 in. diameter, the remaining ma- terial can be easily removed with a sharp cold chisel and finished with a round file. The laminae can now be taken apart and each varnished with black insulating var- nish. When dry, reassemble the laminae and proceed to wind the field. Each pole is surrounded by a coil of 200 turns of No. 26-gage enameled magnet wire thoroughly insulated from the iron by empire cloth. The wire should be wound on by hand so that it will occupy as little space as possible. The field poles should be thoroughly insulated by means of strips of empire cloth wound tightly around them and then varnished. The leads should be brought out and the coils connected in series; i.e., the end of one coil should be connected with the beginning of the other. brought out and protected from injury, and the finished field set aside while the armature is built. The armature is of the usual drum type, with eleven drilled slots to receive the windings. The shaft is of cold rolled steel, ee a SA Sip ene TEEN CA NA eran ers The two free ends should be © seein eerie > aaa SN ee i f i a =

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Popular Science Monthly ‘KO ——= a, |—2 —1 1 11 — af — ’ FIG.3 LOOP CONNECTION e iu COMPLETE MOTOR ll} SLOTS INSULATING WASHERS COMM. SEGMENTS FIG.& ARM. r34 COMM. Ssessessseso MOTOR CONN. _— FIG. 9 Entire details of all the parts necessary in the construction of a universal motor that is especially adapted to drive a fan on the ordinary vacuum cleaner used for household purposes 7/16 in. in diameter, rough, to be turned as shown in Fig. 3. The threads may be cut in the lathe at the same time that the shaft is being turned. Now bore a %-in. hole through the center of the stack of 90 _ 2 by 2-in. iron and then varnish the plates. When dry slip them on the shaft and clamp them between the two iron washers. Do: not tighten the nuts too much or stripped threads will result. Now proceed to turn the armature to a diameter of 1% in. Be very careful not to feed the lathe tool too fast or it will cause the, plates to turn on the shaft. Now lay out the eleven slots as shown in Fig. 4. The drilling should be done in a drill-press and the armature set in a jig so that the shaft will be parallel to the drill. Great care should be used to get the slots absolutely parallel to the shaft and accurately spaced. With a hack saw cut through the 1/16 in. of metal on the diameter of the laminae and smooth up with a small file. The shaft can now be finished to 4 in. in diameter. This should not be done earlier because it would twist out of shape

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a oo ae. = ——~— while the laminae are being turned. The armature is now ready to receive its wind- ing. Referring to Fig. 6, the method of wiring can be easily understood. There are two coils per slot, each having a span of six slots. The winding consists of twenty-two coils, each of which is composed of 20 ft. of No. 29-gage enameled wire. Now measure eleven 40-ft. lengths of wire and in the middle of each twist a loop about 1 in. long. Before beginning to wind the armature the slots must be lined with empire cloth. Cut from the cloth eleven strips 15g in. long and I in. wide and line each slot, using a little glue to hold them in place. Beginning with slot No. 1, skip to slot No. 6 and wind until you come to the loop, which should be brought out on the side of the commutator. The next coil is wound in the same manner in slots No. 2 and No. 7, etc. Now to the end of the first coil (not the loop) twist the beginning of the second coil. It is well to tie a knot in the end of each coil for identification when the commutator connections are made. When the winding is complete it should be tested for grounds and breaks, etc. This may be easily accomplished by means of an incandescent lamp in series and the lighting circuit. If the coils pass the test, strips of fiber 1/16 in. thick, 5/32 in. wide, and 1% in. long should be inserted in the slots above the wire to prevent the wire from being thrown out by centrifugal force. Now give the armature two coats of insulating varnish and set aside to dry. We will now need a commutator.” The writer has found by experience that this had best be purchased. It may be ob- tained from an electrical repair or supply shop for a small sum. It should have 22 segments and be of the dimensions given in Fig. 5 and fit snugly on the shaft. To connect the armature coils with the com- mutator proceed as follows: With a fine- toothed hack saw cut a nick about 1/16 in. deep in the end of each commutator bar on the side nearest the coils. Now solder the loops to alternate bars, keeping them in their proper order. Be sure to use a non-corrosive soldering flux. One element of the winding is in heavy lines, Fig. 6, clearly showing the proper connection of the loop to the commutator segment be- tween the bars connected with the begin- ning and end of the coil. When the: connections are complete, center the arma- ture in a lathe and take a very light cut Popular Science Monthly 613 off the commutator, removing the super- fluous solder. On the opposite end of the shaft is a brass thrust sleeve, which should be a snug fit and be pressed on the shaft. The top bearing and brush holder are shown in Fig. 7. The bearings are turned from a piece of brass or phosphor bronze rod. Both bearings are of the same dimen- sions. The brushes are of 14-in. square carbon, held in two pieces of square brass tubing. The tubing is sweated to an 8-32 brass screw I in. long and set at such an angle that the brush is at right angles to the commutator. Each brush holder is insulated from the bearing bracket by two fiber washers, one on each side of the bracket as shown in Fig. 7. Now clamp the bearing bracket, field laminae, and hard wood ring, Fig. 8, rigidly together by means of the two 4-in. bolts, which should be cut off to 2% in. The lower bearing is to be set in the center of the top of the fan case and secured by means of two small brass screws. Asmall brass oil tube about 1% in. long is soldered to the oil hole in the bearing and brought out through a hole in the hardwood ring. On the underside of the bearing is a dust cap, which consists of a felt washer I in. in diameter covered by a cap about 1 in. in diameter. The top of a small paper fastener will serve the purpose well. The dust cap is on the underside of the top of the fan case. The connections are shown in Fig. 9. The motor is now complete and should be tested out. If it runs in an anti-clock- wise direction the field leads must be re- versed so that the armature will rotate in a clockwise direction. (To be continued) Connecting a Spotlight in an Automobile Dynamo Circuit SPOTLIGHT was wanted on an auto- mobile in which the lights were on a series circuit. As the spotlight was only to be used occasionally the method of wiring was as follows: A single switch was mounted on the dash and a wire connected with it from the left hand termi- nal on the back of the ammeter. Another wire from the switch was connected with the spot lamp and grounded to the other terminal of the spot lamp. If a spot lamp is procured with a switch on it, it is only necessary to connect a wire from the am- meter to the lamp and ground the lamp. ; i i t f f

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614 Popular Science Monthly Blackboard an Adjunct to the Amateur’s Shop BLACKBOARD is a valuable adjunct to the amateur’s shop. One may easily be made of a sheet of cardboard painted with a mixture of lampblack and gasoline and then tacked in a convenient place on the shop wall with crayon box nearby.— HArRoLp W. OFFIUS. A Grid Placed in the Wings of an Airplane N wireless telegraph work on airplanes there is often difficulty encountered in obtaining sufficient metal work to serve in a balancing capacity. In the construction the bracing wires of the wings are so connected that they provide a good path throughout the whole length of the wing, through which they are led to the wireless transmitter. To prevent air friction, additional wires are mounted inside the wing frames which are connected with the bracing wires. These wires are supported by lashings through the slots in eel Wires making the grid for an aerial are placed in the frame of an airplane wing the ribs. As these wires form a grid they are placed parallel and are of equal lengths. Jn the illustration the bracing wires are shown at A. They may be either bare or insulated. At B is a modification of a grid, the wires being supported by lashings through slots in the ribs. A Simple and Interesting Thermo- Magnetic Motor VERY simple thermo-magnetic motor which utilizes the principle that heat- ing a piece of metal weakens its magnetic properties, can be easily built. The rim of i Cork center i £. ‘ The wheel rim is heated by a lamp to reduce the mag- netic properties of the parts close to the magnet the wheel that revolves is made of a piece of heavy iron wire, which is held together with copper spokes fitted in a cork A. Through the center of this cork a large pin is placed, about which the wheel rotates. The lower end of the pin is stuck into another cork B, which is glued to the base. A strong horseshoe magnet is then sup- ported on a block of wood near the rim of the wheel as shown. A small alcohol lamp is then placed under the rim of the wheel, . care being taken that it is not placed too near the magnet poles, as it would heat them’ and destroy a large part of the magnetism contained in them. As soon as the portion of the wheel directly over the lamp becomes heated, the wheel will begin to turn, the heated portion revolving away from the magnet. This is because the heated portion has lost some of its ability to be attracted by the magnet, therefore it moves or is pushed away by the cool metal— ALEXANDER V. BOLLERER. An Undercoating for Copper to Hold Paint OPPER does not hold paint well, hence it must be treated with some substance that will take the paint, or left to weather a year or more. A _ good primer is boiled linseed oil, to which add a little Japan gold size. Apply one coat and let it stand about one week, then apply the paint over it. Se eee

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op RG a Warming Army Tents With Improvised Stoves EFORE the United States Government issued tent stoves to the Guardsmen on the Border, there were many improvised stoves or heaters to be seen in the various tents. The stove shown in the upper left corner of the illustration is the type known as the Sibley tent stove, which is the one issued by the Government to keep the boys warm. There were some stoves made along these lines and in use before the Federal authorities @ SI considered it md cold enough to issue them to the men. These stoves were roughly shaped from sheet iron and riveted to- gether. An- other popular stove, which is made from a 5- gal. kerosene can or a 25-lb. coffee can, is shown in the corner of the tent. Two small holes about Y in. in diameter, are cut near the bottom for air vents and a hole about 4 by 8 or 6 by 6 in. is cut in the front to allow the insertion of fuel, another hole being cut to carry off the smoke and allow for perfect draft. The fire is regulated by placing a piece of tin over the fuel or fire opening and another over the air vents in the bottom. When starting the fire the air vents are left open and the fire opening is kept covered. When the fire gets well started it may be checked by opening the slide over the fire opening or removing it altogether, or the vents at the bottom may be closed and the slide on the fire opening left closed or partially open. OVE PIPE MADE F SMALL CANS Three types of roughly improvised stoves for heating the tents of the guardsmen on the Mexican border 615 A very simple brick stove is shown in the upper right corner of the illustration. The bricks were laid upwith mud for mortar, the whole thing requiring less than 50 bricks. The stove served as a cooker as well as a heater, for food could be readily heated on top of the tin or iron cover. The worst problem of all was to get the required amount of stovepipe, but in several instances this difficulty was overcome by using empty vegetable cans. These are plentiful about a camp. The only trouble with this style of stovepipe lies in the fact that the cans act on the same principle as a muffler on on a gasoline engine and thereby fail to accomplish the desired results, as the smoke is held in check and a slow smoky fire results.— GEORGE M. PETERSEN. Stropping a Razor on the Fleshy Part of the Hand HE finest strop for a razor is the fleshy part of your hand below the little finger. For eight years I have used no other for razor blades. If it is a safety razor blade grasp it between the thumb and first finger of the right hand and strike finger nail and blade at the same time on the fleshy part of the left hand. If you will do it slowly at first the mo- tion becomes automatic. I put a little vaseline on the cutting edge. This keeps the blades constantly in first class con- dition — JOHN W. SHANK.

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616 Making a Campfire Tent out of a Pack Cloth Cpe campfire tent shown in the illustra- tions is most comfortable to livein. It is of the open front type and is always well ventilated. With the front flap raised as * an awning, the heat from the fire is reflected 9'— 104 2i' =a Se Pat piled Ng ~ . tg Dimensions of the cloth for making an open front campfire tent equipped with an awning inside, where it is most welcome on a cool night. This tent may be made of the simple lean-to type, or with the front flap. The model with the awning is a nice roomy tent for two or three persons. All models are easily made from a rectangular piece of material, and merely folded on the dotted lines. This makes it unnecessary to cut the material up, and when not in use the tent is folded out flat to serve as a tarpaulin, an apron to cover the canoe, or as a pack cloth to wrap around the blankets and other camp duffle. The two end _ segments, within the dotted lines, are folded in to serve as a sod cloth, and an additional strip of cloth may be sewed to the back wall to serve the same purpose. This is desirable, because it keeps out the wind and rain and prevents insects from entering. As lightness is desirable, a heavy grade of unbleached cotton cloth is the best choice. If a heavier material is wanted, use regula- tion duck in 6, 8 or 10-ounce weights. Common khaki fabric is good, and stout enough for ordinary use. The breadths of cloth are sewed together by lapping one edge over the other about 34-in. and double stitching the seams. This can be done on the sewing machine. A 1-in. hem should be run around the edges. Popular Science Monthly until they are dry, as this will crush them. The eyelets are sewed in by making a small hole at the proper place, and placing a brass ring or grommet on each side of the hole. Sew over and over with an over- casting stitch, using waxed seine twine or ordinary string. , Every tent should be waterproofed. The following method is one of the best: In 4 gal. of boiling water (rain water) dissolve 4 lb. of common powdered alum. In a separate pail, dissolve 14 lb. lead acetate (sugar of lead) in 4 gal. water. Pour the alum solution in a clean tub, and add the lead solution. Let this stand for several hours, then pour off the clear liquid and work the canvas thoroughly in it, so that every part of the cloth is well saturated. To make the cloth absolutely waterproof, it is necessary to fix the acetate of alum in the fibers of the cloth, and this cannot be done unless soft rain water is used. Finish by lightly rinsing in clear water to remove the dust of sulphate, and hang up todry. An ordinary coat or sweater can be water- proofed in the same way, and cloth thus treated is fireproof also. Sugar of lead isa poison, but only when taken internally. If the tent is wanted of a brown or forest-green color, the cloth may be easily dyed with Diamond Dye or other household dye. This should be done before water- proofing and after the tent is made up. The tent may be staked with the usual ridge and side poles, with the crotched sticks cut in the woods, or suspended along the ridge with a rope, hung between two trees.—STILLMAN TAYLOR. Preserving Flowers in Natural Colors with Wax T is not generally known that preserving flowers in wax is one of the easiest of tasks. Ordinary candles may be used. To prepare the wax, it is only necessary to cut the candles into chunks, being careful to remove the wicks. The wax is then melted in a saucepan over a flame, after which it is ready to receive the flowers. Each flower should be dry on the surface when treated; there should be no rain or dew- drops on the petals. Take the blossoms separately and dip them for a moment or so into the liquid wax, constantly moving them about. Immerse the blossoms com- pletely and also an inch or so of the stem. Then take them out and hold until dry. Do not lay them on a table or flat surface

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ee ee Ve -— W t = m OO ee S o _).. Si See ae I _— How to Reline Your Automobile Brakes An easy method of inserting new lining in a brake drum By Joseph Brinker ANY automobile owners who delight M in tinkering around their cars and keeping them in repair would like to reline the vehicle brakes were they sure they could do it properly and not jeopardize their lives through poor workmanship. The drawings shown indicate the various steps necessary in properly relining a brake. First, jack up the rear axle of the car and remove the rear wheels as per the instruc- tion book furnished by the car maker. At about 11% in. from the external measure- ment to get the cutting length of the lining for one internal brake. This is shown in Fig. 1. Then put the band in a vise as shown in Fig. 2 and chisel off the heads of the old rivets. In marking the new lining for the rivet holes, lay the wheel on the bench or floor with its hub side down. Put the lining and band in place as shown in Fig. 3 and wire the band in place. Then with a Cutting the length of a new brake lining, marking the places for the rivets, punching and counter- sinking the holes, placing the rivets, hammering them to a head and applying the band the same time disconnect the toggles and remove the brake clevis pin, the adjustment screw and the various coil springs attached to the brake-band. Then remove the band, keeping in mind the top and bottom of the assembly. Clean all the parts thoroughly with gasoline and remove all the old grease around the brake dust-guard and the axle- stub. Buy the new lining in one piece but do not attempt to cut it until the brake has been removed. To obtain the correct length, measure around the outside of the external brake-band with a tape, allowing an overlap of about 14 in. so that the lining is not short at the band opening. Deduct 617 soapstone stick or pencil, mark the position of the holes in the new lining, using the holes in the band asa template. Then cut the holes with a leather punch similar to that shown in Fig. 4. Place the band and lining together in a vise or on a bench as shown in Fig. 5, hold- ing the lining in place by several small bolts inserted through corresponding holes. A wood countersinking bit and a brace will serve for countersinking the holes in the lining so that the rivet heads will be below the lining surface. After that is done insert a rivet through a corresponding hole in band and brake and place the countersunk head of the rivet on Se a Tee ewe \

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618 Popular Science Monthly top of a bolt fastened in a vise as shown in Fig.6. Insert a short piece of pipe over the free end of the rivet and tap the top of the pipe with a hammer to draw the rivet head and lining tightly in place. See that the end of the rivet extends about 3/16 in. through the band. Then rivet over the heads with light, sharp blows of a hammer. The method of doing this for the external brake is shown in Fig. 6 and for the in- ternal type in Fig. 7. Care should be taken in marking off the lining holes or, in case of the external brake, the lining may tend to cut corners as shown in Fig. 8. This may be avoided by leaving the holding-in bolts ‘in place in lining and band until the other holes are filled with rivets. A Cord Cutter Made From a Safety Razor Blade HIS cord cutter consists of a discarded safety razor blade and a block of wood. If the cutter is to be used on the counter edge the block of wood should be consider- ably thicker than the coun- ter top. The lower edge of the block is placed flush with the under- side of the coun- Discarded razor blade ter allowing the used as-a cord cutter extra thickness to project above the upper surface, which is notched in the center and cut slanting toward both ends. It is then fastened with two wood screws run through the holes in the razor blade. This manner of fastening allows a small portion of the blade to extend in the notch where the cord will strike it upon being drawn in the open- ing.—THOMAS DEAN. Screws pass through block and razor blade Electric Lamp Attached to a Spoon for Tongue Depressor HEN it becomes necessary to examine the throat of a child, or to remove a lodged fishbone or button, a spoon is the first thing sought for to depress the tongue in order to make the examination. A good light is also necessary. To furnish one for the purpose, a small electric light may be attached to the back of the spoon. * This lighted spoon is not difficult to arrange. It requires only an ordinary spoon, a small two-volt lamp, a dry cell, a few inches of enameled wire—about 18 gage—one insulated and one uninsulated binding post and 3 or 4 ft. of flexible cord. Scrape enough enamel from the ends of the wire to allow for soldering to the lamp and attaching to the binding post, Attach the posts on the end of the spoon handle. Solder the base of the lamp to the Half of bulb Terminal soldered to Solder i painted Spoon uninsulated A small electric globe fastened to an ordi- nary table spoon for examining the throat spoon bowl and the end of the enameled wire to the center button of the lamp. Connect wire attached to the center button on lamp to the insulated binding post. Enamel the base or back part of the lamp so that the light will be reflected into the throat and not into the operator’s eyes, Attach the flexible cord to a battery and to the binding posts, and the spoon is ready for use. If carefully made, this will prove to be an invaluable addition to the ‘first aid” equipment of the medicine cabinet. The spoon with the attachment can be sterilized in hot water.—E. A. WARNER. Temporary Repair on a Broken Lubricator Filling Glass STEAM shovel located at a great distance from a repair shop had a broken lubricator filling glass. There were no extra ones on hand. The sketch illustrates how a small piece of wood was whittled and substituted for the glass. Though this did not register the use and supply of oil in the lubricator, it plugged the openings left by the torily and held very nicely until new glasses arrived several days later. The wood should be cut as round as the glass to make a close joint at each end in the fittings. The nuts should be made secure.—F. W. BENTLEY. A wood plug sub- stitute for glass broken glass_ satisfac. e217 rr fr ob ob — -— -—-= 45 4 ® & an mam a we OUttlUKf,lCUreektlCO Kf

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ty Bead as. Sheet Metal Working Simply Explained V.—Method of finding the miter lines and laying out the pattern for ninety-degree elbows of any number of pieces By Arthur F. Payne Director of Vocational Education INCE the publication of the article in S the September issue describing the method of laying out elbow patterns, many inquiries have been received asking for the method of finding the miter lines and laying out the patterns for elbows having any number of pieces. The author and publishers are very glad to receive this indication of interest in the series and are especially glad that it is in the scientific side of the work. They will welcome further suggestions. Almost every pattern drafter has his own pet way of laying out the many pieced elbows, and various ingenious charts, dials, disks, tables, etc., have been worked out and placed on sale. However different these may appear, one from the other, they are all based on the same fundamental methods and principles. In all elbows of more than two pieces, the two end sections should be one-half the size of the other sections. Note the end sections of the drawings showing the elbows in A. It is only necessary to de- velop the pattern of the bottom end section. This can be used for a pattern for all of the other sections, as will be shown later in the description. It is necessary to lay out the drawing for the complete elbow with all the miter lines to get the correct miter line of the end section. This extra work can be avoided if you will make one of the miter lines charts as shown and described later in the article. It is always understood when speaking of elbows that we are referring to elbows of 90 deg. In the drawing A we have two elbows, one made of three pieces and the other of five, but both are 90 deg. For an explanation of this entire problem we will take a four-piece elbow. Draw two arcs, as shown by the dotted lines C-D and E-F in drawing B. We already know that the two end sections are to be one- half size of the center sections. As there are four pieces in the elbow the two center sections will be twice the size of the two ends, as shown. If we take the size of one end section as a unit we find that 619 it is repeated six times in the entire elbow. Then we must divide the arcs C-D and E-F into six equal parts. Another way of stating this is: There are four sections in this elbow; there are two end sections and two center sections. Count one for each of the end sections (1+1=2). Add two for each of the center sections (2+2=4), This rule making a total of six units. Pattern for tand 6\ Pattern for 6.andH \ Lal suaxe F 7 t . = 123456789 WN RBH 6) 38 Elbows of more than two pieces and the way to lay out a pattern for cutting out the different sections applies to all 90 deg. elbows of any size and any number of pieces. The method of developing the pattern for the elbow in B is shown and has already been described in the June and September articles. It will save considerable time when laying out these elbow patterns in practical work if you will make from a piece of heavy tin one of the miter charts as shown in the drawing. This chart will give you the miter line of the bottom end section of the elbow and all you need to do is to develop the pattern for the pipe of the diameter wanted. To make this chart, cut out of heavy tin a triangle that is 12 in. on two sides, as shown in the drawing, then with a protractor lay off the angles as indicated i

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620 Popular Science Monthly in the i ag wrk a. A good pro- An Inexpensive Cesspool Made of a tractor can purchased very reasonably. Cut out the pieces as shown on the right Barrel and Cask edge of the chart. A SERVICEABLE cement cesspool can To use this chart, lay it flat on the be constructed in the following manner — eek. at a cost of about three | degrees dollars. The essentials are | a large crockery cask that stands about 4 ft. high, half of a lime cask, three or four bags of cement and plenty of clean sand and loose stone. Dig a hole about 8 ft. deep and 18 in, larger in diameter than the extreme diameter of the crockery cask. Fill this hole with about 3 ft. of stones or bricks packed loosely to allow easy drainage. Knock out 415 (2 the head of the crockery cask and turn it | A miter chart to keep at hand for designat- bottom up, with the open end over the |! ing the miter line of the bottom end section stones. Place it so the distance between the ‘ cask and the walls of the hole will be about paper and make a dot at the point where the same on all sides. This will bring the the lines meet. Draw a pencil line along turned up bottom of the cask about a foot the bottom and along the short line on pelow the surface of the ground. Cuta | the right edge that is marked for the num- ound hole in the side to admit the drain. | i ber of pieces wanted. Remove the chart pipe and set it in place, letting the end | and connect the dot and the short line. project about 6 in. inside. | This line will be the miter required. At i or | the bottom, draw a circle the diameter of f: TT | the pipe wanted and project the lines fo. i SAS upward and over to the right to develop the pattern as described in previous issues. pe:::-f ES For greater clearness we will give the — REETY i \ table form, the numbered degrees for the Drain pipe 4. LMU miter lines for the indicated number of pieces as shown on the chart. nas sPiecesze degrees 4Pieces 1s seal degrees 3-22? >_> air ee ae hlUueel Ul elUckelCU 5Piecesue degrees 7-75 9-5% 10-5° 1234567093 HVUNRBHHKY Pattern for three) piece 30° elbow awtiunm nae 2 2 Ue COU [6G oe nm ONIN: IM TONS Aah S see i 1 MITER LINEs FOR NINETY DEGREE ELBOWS , For a Two-Piece Elbow.......... 45 Degrees ] For a Three-Piece Elbow........ 224 * For a Four-Piece Elbow......... 15 i : 1 For a Five-Piece Elbow.......... rc * FZ 2 WA : For a Six-Piece Elbow........... 9 ” Yin For a Seven-Piece Elbow........ x aX For an Eight-Piece Elbow........ 634 “ For a Nine-Piece Elbow......... 5% “ g For a Ten-Piece Elbow.......... 5 - Af Ingredients That Make the Best Kind of Glue HERE are two kinds of constituents in glue—glutin and chondrin—the one or the other in large quantities accord- Mix your cement in the proportion of. 1 ing to the raw stock used. Skins will part of cement, 4 parts of sand and 4 parts produce more glutin and bones yield a_ of stone, bricks or clean clinkers. Fill in larger amount of chondrin. As a cement, around the sides with this mixture and the glutin has the greater binding power tamp well in place to remove all air and naturally is the more valuable. pockets. Knock out the head from the ee A crockery barrel with an inclosed cask set in the earth to serve as a cesspool ee ee le alr hl ll ee ee Cee tlUlUklU ee

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a rts nd air che half lime cask and place it over the center of the bottom of the larger one. Mark around it with a pencil and saw out the resulting disk with a keyhole saw. Fit the lime cask in this opening and nail it securely in place. Arch over the bottom of the large cask and build up around the smaller one with a somewhat richer mixture of cement, about I part cement to 2 parts sand and 2 parts stone. In rounding over the edge of the large cask do not spread the cement less than 2 in. thick at any point. For a cover, make a mold by nailing a barrel hoop around the edge of a barrel- head; lay in a few pieces of scrap wire, etc., to act as binders and pour in a 2 to I mix- ture of cement and sand. Insert an iron ring in the center for a handle. Allow this to set a week before removing the mold. After all has hardened at least two weeks fill in and cover with earth. Such a cess- pool has given good service for nearly six years.—L. B. ROBBINS. Pedal-Operated Brake for a Belt- Driven Motorcycle HE only brake that can be used on a belt-drive motorcycle is the friction clutch in the rear hub controlled by the starting ped- als. Just to be more up- to-date I ap- plied the at- tachment shown in the accompanying illustration to operate this brake with a Oe ia) Disengag- JR ing spring J Roller foot-pedal. The main 4a sliding dog on a motor- support of the cycle frame for a pedal brake brake is mounted on the frame-brace so that it will move freely. The wire to the foot- lever is attached to the extension on the dog, so that when pressure is applied to the foot-lever the lower part of the dog catches in the chain. The roller prevents the chain from pushing away from the dog. After the dog slips over a link-pin it cannot go farther. As the foot-pedal is pressed down the whole attachment moves forward on the frame-brace, pulling the chain back- ward and setting the clutch-brake. When the foot releases the pedal-lever the spring pushes the dog and support back. Popular Science Monthly 621 Making a Soldering Iron Heater of Pipe and Fittings HE main body of the heater A is a piece of 14-in. iron pipe 12 in. long, threaded on both ends to receive a cap B. Pipe and fittings as they are used to make a gas burner for heating a soldering iron A portion of one end equal to the length of the soldering copper is perforated or drilled to produce two rows of 1/16-in. holes at C. Located in the center are two feet or sup- ports to raise the heater from the bench surface. These supports have the form shown at E. These are made of sheet metal about 1/16 in. thick and 3% in. wide. Holes are drilled near the top of these pieces and nails F inserted to form a rest for the iron. The supports are secured to the pipe with machine screws as at G. At the opposite end of the pipe a small piece is cut out as at H to supply the necessary air to the gas. The nozzle for the gas jet is made of a piece of 3%-in. brass pipe about 3 in. long, flattened at one end as shown. A hole is drilled in the cap for this end of the main pipe and the piece of brass inserted with nozzle end in and near the air inlet notch. A rubber tube is used to connect the heater with a gas supply pipe. If the heater gives a large white flame the end of the brass tubing J should be flattened more. The right flame can be determined by trial in changing the size of the opening. A Durable Paint for Surfaces Exposed to the Weather EVERAL tests made with paint on boards showed that a mixture of one-third zinc white and two-thirds barites was the most durable. The large amount of oil required prevented the reaction of the zinc, but the paint was deficient in body, hence in covering quality.

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~ 622 Popular Science Monthly Clip for Carrying Pipe in the Vest Pocket Safely GREAT number of pipe users adhere to the straight stem for reasons known to the habitual smoker. However, carrying such a pipe is somewhat difficult. A clip similar to the one used on a fountain pen for holding pipe in the vest pocket If carried in the hip pocket it is liable to be broken, and if.in the vest pockets it is liable to be dropped out and lost. For the worker who like’ to and can have a frequent draw, it is most readily carried in one of the upper vest pockets. The illustration shows an easily made aluminum or brass clip that is bent to fit the stem of the pipe and which will securely fasten the pipe to the edge of the pocket. The idea was conceived after the writer had lost a few broken-in good ones, himself.—F. W. BENTLEY. A Silvering Process for Glass Instru- ments and Mirrors ISSOLVE 2.5 grams of silver nitrate in 100 c.c. of distilled water, and add ammonia until the precipitate just goes into solution. Make up the solution to 250 c.c. When this has been done, prepare another solution containing .5 gram of Rochelle salt in 250 c.c. of water; boil the solution to dissolve the salt more rapidly. Keep both solutions in tightly stoppered bottles in the dark when not in use. ' The surface to be silvered must be thoroughly cleaned by washing first with a strong alkali solution, then with dilute nitric acid, and finally with distilled water, After each washing, the surface should be rubbed with moist cheesecloth. A solu- tion of stannous chloride in water to which a few drops of hydrochloric acid have been added is then poured gently and evenly over the surface, which should then be well washed in tap water. Care should be taken not to touch the prepared surface with the fingers after the ‘treatment with tin chloride. While still wet the object is placed in a waxed dish or waxed paper, and a mixture of equal volumes of the two solutions already prepared quickly poured over it, avoiding splashing and air-bubbles. In about an hour the silvering will be com- plete; the liquid may be poured off, and the article dried. The silvered surface should never be touched by the fingers. The best shellac for such a surface is prepared by dissolving 5 parts by weight of gutta-percha; 20 parts by weight of gum damar in 75 parts by weight of benzene, If these articles are not readily obtainable, the surface may be varnished. with a very dilute shellac varnish. By this process anyone can easily construct hygrometers, mirrors, reflectors, and many other kinds of useful apparatus. Holding the T-Square on the Drawing-Board HEN using a small drawing-board not supported by a stand or other regular holding arrangement, the most convenient position in which to hold it while seated is to tilt it against the edge ai of the table. Ribter toga, {AS result, the rew eye : T-square must TTT be dropped to Han NH } the base after Hil WN PTT UIA ARAL GB \ \ 4 \ A AE \ \\ A cord on T-square head to hold it on board each time it is used. The il- lustration shows how a simple attach- ment for the board and square can be made and applied which will hold the square at all times in place on the face of the board. A number of very small screweyes, two light rubber bands, and a piece of light but strong cord are all the materials needed. It is easily pushed up and down as required, and does not interfere with the placing or withdrawal of work.

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— Ww SS eS ae) UP ae. ee Oo =— + ~~ ~~ aw” ass | we orn ials wn the Range-Finder to Locate Landmarks and Signal Fires E NATURALLY think of a range- finder as that part of a gunner’s equipment which tells him the distance to his target, thus enabling him to give the proper elevation to his gun. But the range-finder off the battlefield is a part of the equipment of a tramping kit which will tell the width of valleys and rivers and the distances to landmarks and signal fires. az Va Arange-finder suitable for the woodsman or camper to aid in locating landmarks and computing their distances or the width of rivers and valleys. It is made of odds and ends of scrap Any boy can make his own range finder from materials that might otherwise go to the scrap-heap. The essential feature of the device is shown at A. This is cut from a wedge- shaped piece of wood 2 in. long, 1144 in. wide, and 3/32 in. thick. From the thick end it is tapered to a very thin edge at the other end. Cut away a piece %-in. wide extending from the thin end to 4% the way toward the thick end. Two strips 314 in. long and )% in. wide are cut from a good quality of thin mirror, and they are fastened to the prepared wedge of wood with bits of beeswax. Both mirrors face toward the front as shown. Lay the mounted mirrors face-up on the floor, slipping. something under one side of the wedge so that the lower mirror will be level. Cut from stiff white paper a piece exactly 2 in. square, then hold it in a horizontal position just 20 in. above the thin edge of the wood wedge, peering down at the mirrors through a hole punched in the center of the paper square. _ Two images of the card will be seen, one in each mirror. Slip the card along, keeping it 20 in. from the wedge-edge, rotating it Popular Science Monthly 623 until the two inside edges of the images are parallel to the thin edge of the wedge. When the one image-edge is in line with the wedge’s thin edge, the image-edge in the other mirror should also be in line with it. The image positions should appear as mee \\ 3 % 4 Wp)! YY 4 \ at 4 pve indicated by the shaded portions in the mirrors. If, however, the images overlap, then the mirror strips are too nearly parallel; if they do not touch, then the angle between the mirrors is too great. In either case the angle between the mirrors must be corrected by pressing the mirror strips firmly against their beeswax pellets A wedge shaped piece of wood with thin mir- rors attached is fastened to a baseboard until they fulfill the alinement test at the 20-in. distance. A little patience is needed. When successful take a stick of red sealing wax and a hot nail and wax the edges of the

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624 mirror strips securely to the wood wedge, being very careful not to disturb the adjust- ment of the strips. Make the sealing wax very hot with the nail so that it will not break loose. The other part of the work is easy. Cut from a board a piece measuring 8 in. long, 2% in. wide and 14 in. thick, and nail a wood strip of %-in. square cross-section across one end at a 45 deg. slant. Glue the wood wedge against this strip so that the mirrors stand as in B, facing away from the supporting strip. To complete the range-finder cut a piece of tin 134 in. square. Cut into it a slit 1 in. long and 1/64 in. wide and tack the tin against the end of the baseboard so that the slit and the thin edge of the wood wedge are parallel and the same distance from the side edge of the board. The distance of an object, C, may be determined as illustrated. Turn the left cheek toward the distant object and, look- ing straight ahead, hold the slit of the range-finder close up to the left eye and look through the slit into the mirrors. Point the instrument in such a direction that the image of the distant object, as seen in the upper mirror, lies exactly above and directly in line with the thin edge of the wedge. At the same instant, glance past the wedge-edge and note some feature in the landscape which is in line with this edge, a tree, D, for instance. Now with the eye at the slit walk directly toward this object, D, counting the number of paces taken, still keeping the wedge-edge in line with the tree. Meanwhile the image of C in the upper mirror moves on out to the right and at the same time its image as seen in the lower mirror moves up from the left until it in its turn comes into line with the wedge-edge. At the instant this happens note how many paces, E, have been taken from the first observing station. Multiply this number by 10 and you have the number of paces, F, from the first point of observa- tion out to C. If you have learned to make a stride of 36 in., then the distances are known at once in yards, otherwise you must know the length of the natural stride before you can obtain distances in yards. Of course the paced distance can be measured with a tape-line. If the paced distance is 88 yards then C is 880 yards or half a mile away. It is evident that to measure with this instrument the distance to an object 5 miles away one must pace off half a mile. This Popular Science Monthly - is sometimes inconvenient. It is therefore desirable, for objects at this distance, or farther away, to use a range-finder whose wedge is of only half the angle described above; the 2-in. paper square must then be held at a 4o-in. distance in adjusting the mirror strips. The paced distance is then to be multiplied by 20. This type of range-finder yields astonish- ingly accurate results if it is equipped with good mirrors.: It is a scientific instrument based upon the laws of reflection of light and surveyors’ triangulation methods and is worthy of any boy’s serious consideration, A Convenient Pivoted Card File for the Desk ILING systems are necessary in all lines of business, and for convenience of small accounts or for data a single tray is often applicable. The desk tray illus- trated is especially designed and it fits into a slide made for it, so that it is never Hat) H| ) | il | 2.6 “yan co i | “2h Mion 9 Wo wel TU => i hth A desk card file tray pulls out the same as a drawer and turns on a pivot when drawn in the way. Another feature of the tray is that it turns on a pivot and the cards face the person sitting at the desk. Flanged bottoms hold the guide cards in place. There is a follower-block, simple in construction and operation, that holds the tabs in a readable position. Side tabs, as shown at A, permit more distinctive subdivisions. With each closing of the drawer an automatic angle-block tilts the cards back parallel with the follower-block. To further facilitate reference the index drawer is pivoted to its carrier-shelf. The frame of the drawer is made up of two thick ends to which thin bottom and side pieces are nailed, the exact dimensions of which depend upon the size of the cards as well as upon the materials at hand, To the front end block, planed to serve

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ill ce iS- its er ray rds s in iple olds abs, tive the the ock, idex p of and sions the and, serve as the angle-block B, the drawer face and handle are fastened. A pivot wheel C is nailed to the center of the drawer bottom. This wheel fits into a slot in the carrier- shelf D. The follower-block E, made of a wood base to which a spring and wire brace are fastened, slips under the side pieces of the drawer. Pushing it against the material filed causes it to grip fast. It is released by a slight vertical pressure. The most important part of this file is the angle-block. Usually the first tabs of an index are not visible, being wholly or Popular Science Monthly 625 If, instead of cards, manuscripts, themes or large size envelopes are to be filed, the drawer shown in J will prove a better arrangement. Cardboard shelves are slipped into the kerf grooves and form pockets for filing —Epwarp R. SMITH. Three Methods for Finding a Chosen Card OR this trick the chosen card must be worked to the top of the pack. If it is there already, well and good; but if not, it Letails of the file parts which are made up to slide in an opening in a desk after the manner of a drawer, the front and follower block holding the cards in a tilted position partly concealed by the face of the drawer. The automatically operated block B of this file is cut to a bevel, the lower surface of which is parallel with the follower-block F. Suppose that the cards are arranged as shown in illustration G. With the pushing of the drawer into its casing, as in H, the momentum of the cards tilts them back. When the drawer is pulled out the bevel prevents the cards from being thrown forward. In steel filing equipment this space between cards and drawer-head is an added protection in case of fire. must be brought there by some means or other. This is generally an easy matter, even without sleight of hand, and can usually be effected under the pretense of looking through the pack. When the card is once at the top a false shuffle may be given, to throw the onlookers off the track. Then push the top card out sideways beyond the rest of the cards. Let the pack fall on the table. The resistance of the air will cause the top card to turn over and appear face upwards, all the other cards remaining face downwards.

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626 Popular Science Monthly Another method is as follows: Get the chosen card to the top of the pack. Slightly moisten the first and second fingers of the right hand, and take hold of the paek with the fingers above, thumb below. Jerk the hand containing the pack smartly down- wards, at the same time relaxing the fingers, and it will be found that the entire pack falls to the floor, with the exception of the chosen card, which will stick to the moistened fingers. This will be the only card left and the card selected. The third method is very similar to the preceding. The chosen card is worked to the bottom of the pack. Mboisten the fingers slightly and take hold of the pack with the fingers below, thumb above. With the disengaged hand strike the pack smartly and at the same moment slightly relax your hold on the pack. It will be found that the entire pack will fall to the floor with the exception of the bottom card which adheres to the fingers. Piping Automobile Engine Exhaust Gas from Garage SPHYXIA caused many deaths in garages before it became generally known that a garage must be well ventilated and the doors left open if the automobile engine is kept running any length of time. Rain water pipe An old drain pipe on a garage floor to remove poisonous gases from the automobile engine One owner of a private garage avoided the necessity of keeping the doors open by piping the exhaust outside, as shown in the illustration. An old drain pipe was used for the purpose. It was connected in such a way that when the automobile was backed into the garage the end of the exhaust pipe entered the end of the drain pipe. This led down to the floor, where a long piece ran through the wall to the out- side and carried all unpleasant or dangerous fumes to the outside, leaving the interior free from the poisonous carbon monoxide gas.—P. P. AVERY. Edging Flower Beds with Old Bottles ARIOUS methods are used to con- struct edging for flower beds that will produce an effect in keeping with surround- ings. One simple way is to use a number of The edging around a flower bed made up of bottles buried part way in the ground bottles, all the same size, set with their necks in the ground, outlining the shape of the bed. Bottles of different colors may be used, or alternate ones let into the ground deeper, making two levels for the bottoms, which have become the tops, similar to a paling fence. Flat bottles, shaped on the order of a flask, can be set in zigzag fashion, or like shingles on the siding of a house, to present a very pleasing appearance as a border for a small bed.—Louis M. WAHRER. Repairing a Broken Test Tube or Beaker HEN you have broken the top of a test-tube or beaker, do not throw it away, for there is a simple way to cut it off smoothly and make a new lip on it. Take a three-cornered file and heat the small end that goes into the handle. Now place the red-hot file on a spot below the break, which has been dipped in water, and hold it there until a slight snap is heard. Now lift the file off. You will see a tiny crack \ in. long. Reheat the file and repeat the operation, following the crack around in a circle. The broken part can be lifted off and a clean-cut rim is the result. To make a flare, rotate the test-tube or beaker over a Bunsen flame until the glass commences to soften, then with a charcoal block, still rotating the tube, press the edges out. In a similar way a lip can be made by pressing down with one edge of the char- coal block. The hardest part of the work is to get the crack started. Sometimes filing starts it—Matcotm MAcuRDA.

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+ we — OS a ore DO OD mm — RP CO Ch Ue ~~ on m Making and Using a Casting Rod II.—The manner of making the cast and controlling the line By Stillman Taylor casting rod is altogether unlike the old method handling the nine foot bait rod. In the new style the casting is | Bi casting with the modern short done from the reel, and after a little Fig. 7. The control of the line is entirely reg- ulated by pressure of the thumb on the spool practice, it is easy to project the minnow or other weight a distance of 75 or 100 ft. Casting is good sport in itself apart from fishing, and by attaching a 14-oz. weight to the line, practice and contests may be indulged in upon any open lot, or in the public park. A good smoothly running reel is an. important part of the casting outfit, and while the expert tournament casters often pay $25 or more for their jeweled reels, a very fine reel may be had for about $5, and serviceable ones as low as $1.50. The kind of reel to buy is of the long barreled type, having a capacity of about 80 to ot oe + eee a —_- ee _--——_. - wr ee es Fig. 8. The underhand cast is started from this position, the tip being about breast high 100 yards of line. A satisfactory reel is shown in Fig. 7, with which no trouble is 627 likely to be encountered in making fairly accurate casts up to 150 feet. This reel costs about $1.75. A good silk line is likewise needed, and while the softer braided silk casting lines are somewhat easier to thumb and less" likely to tangle up when you happen to get a backlash, the harder braids soak up less water and will prove most durable. For tournament use, soft braided lines are best; for fishing, pick out the hard braided kind. : As the control of the line is entirely regu- lated by pressure of the thumb on the =a Fig. 9. The rod is brought quickly forward across the body in the direction of the cast spool, this ‘‘thumbing’”’ the line is easiest done when the spool is well filled with line. It is not often necessary to purchase a longer line than 50 yards, and if this amount does, not entirely fill the spool of the reel, simply wind on a length of common string to form a core, and wind on the line over it to fill up the spool. Many of the expensive casting reels are fitted with cork or wooden cores or arbors, but the string core will answer all purposes. Two styles of casting are much used, the underhand and the overhead cast. As the whole secret of casting lies in thumbing the line, the novice should grasp the rod in the correct manner, as shown in Fig. 7. The underhand cast is the easiest, and

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Be er ee gare REET 628 | Popular Science Monthly is made by reeling in the minnow or plug until it is about 6-in. from the tip. Release the click or drag, press the ball of the thumb firmly on the line on the spool, and swing the rod across the body until it is in the position shown in Fig. 8—the tip being about breast high. Now bring the rod quickly forward across the body "“Whidlgs.i—s Fig. 10. The overhead cast is generally used by fishermen and tournament casters in the direction you want to cast, and relax the thumb sufficiently to let the line run out freely, but still keep enough tension on the spool to prevent it from over-running and causing a_ back lash. The correct underhand cast is completed as shown im Fig. 9. Fig.11. “The bait is projected in the direction the caster is facing and the finish is as shown The overhead cast is more largely used by both fishermen and tournament casters; for a greater distance is covered, and after a little. practice a greater degree of ac- curacy is possible. It is made similar to the underhand cast, but the rod is carried back over the shoulder until it is almost horizontal, as shown in Fig. 10. The arm is now snapped quickly forward and suddenly checked when the rod has reached an angle of about 45 deg., the thumb is partly relaxed, and the bait is projected in the direction the caster is facing. The finish of the overhead cast is shown in Fig. 11. When reeling in the line for another cast, and when playing a fish, the skillful caster prefers to spool the line evenly on the reel by guiding it between the thumb and finger, as shown in Fig. 12. When casting for bass, pickerel and other fresh water game fishes, the cast is finished by merely checking the revolving spool as the bait hits the water. The splash of the minnow or other artificial bait, rather attracts than frightens the fish, hence the angler may use any form of bait desired. The artificial baits now used are of three prominent types; those used on the surface, the diving or underwater baits, and the top-water or weedless lures. The minnow Fig.12. The line is evenly spooled on the reel by guiding it between the thumb and finger form, which floats when at rest, but dives when reeled in, is the best for all-around use, equally attractive for pickerel and black bass. However, there are many different forms of varying sizes and colors to choose from, some for general and others for special purposes. To become a successful angler the caster should know something about the habits of the pickerel or bass in his neighboring waters. In the early days of Spring, when the water is cool, bass are likely to be found in the shallower parts of the stream or lake during the day, and casting should be done around rocks, sand-bars, old stumps, or submerged branches. Pickerel will also be found in the warmer shoal water during this season, and as both species are feeding on minnows and hel- gramites, the best baits are the common

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“buck tail” wooden minnow and the under-water types. For colors, most casters agree that on bright, clear days, and in clear waters, the red and white, red and gray and similar colors, are best. For cloudy days and for casting :n muddy waters, the red and green, and yellow colors are good. For sun-down casting, the white or luminous minnows are very attractive. For summer casting, when the water is warm and Popular Science Monthly 629 Making a Cabin Tent out of Ordinary Sheeting PORTABLE tent, easily carried, quickly erected, adapted for any cli- matic conditions, and capable of housing four or five persons with comfort may be constructed of a few yards of common sheeting, a small reel of wire, two dozen nails, and a package of safety pins. The entire outfit weeds and lily pads appear, will fold up in a roll 2 ft. the bass work out into deeper and cooler water, and the pickerel will be found near the lily pads. The regulation minnowandall the under- water baits are very success- ful. If the weeds are especially thick, one of the weedless baits may be used, ora weedless or Pleat in end of sheet hook substitu- ted for the usual _ treble hook. For late . afternoon cast- Nail in pole end ing—and the L Detail of side and end spanners long, and less than 6 in. in diameter, and weigh less than 7 |b. Of course regular tent cloth may be used, but in case that should not be available, or- dinary sheet- ing, 90 in. wide, will prove satisfac- tory. At one end of the sheeting make a wide seam. That is the only sewing re- -| quired tomake it ready for use. The strip should not be less than 7 yd. as this is de- early morning and late after- noon hours are the best ones for summer fishing—work around the mouth of any brooks or streams that empty into the lake or pond, and use a diving or under-water bait. Keep the bait always in motion. Do not allow it to remain floating after a cast, but commence to reel in as soon as it strikes the water. As a general thing, beginners reel in too fast, and keep the bait surging along at motor-boat speed. This is a mistake, for no fish can strike at this high speed. If you are out after big fish, reel in slowly, and keep in mind thata well placed cast of 75 ft. is more likely to prove successful than a 100-ft. cast with a backlash at the end of it. A tent that will house four or five persons is constructed of a few yards of common sheeting and materials from the woods signed to form the main cov- ering for the tent. The poles selected may vary in length, and thus vary the amount of sheeting required. In addition to this main sheet two tri- angularly-shaped sections of the same goods are provided, the edges of which should be hemmed. To the long side of each triangular piece, tack a strip of netting 4 ft. wide and at least 8 ft. long. The tri- angular sections and netting form the ends of the tent. The frame which holds the tent fabric is made of four poles, each 8 ft. long. These should be driven into the ground 6 in. or more, 8 ft. apart, to form the four corners.

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630 Popular Science Monthly In order to make the gables of the cabin the ends of horizontal cross-pieces, or poles, are secured to each pair of uprights, 3% ft. from the ground. The tops of the saplings are then brought together so as to form two arches, one for each end of the cabin. The horizontal spanners are 7 ft. long. A ridge pole is then laid on the forks pro- vided by the two arches, and side spanner poles are secured to the arched poles. The intersecting parts of the various saplings are fixed in place by means of suitable wire or twine. Soft wire is preferable, as it can be quickly applied, twisted and secured by means of pliers. Soft annealed piano wire is the most serviceable. A tinned wire, about 18 gage, is also good for this purpose. We now have the frame ready for the parts necessary to carry the tent cloth; for it is not desirable to stretch the sheet over the wooden frame. We may take a lesson from the umbrella frame which has light ribs to support its covering. Wires are used to support the sheet of the tent. A few suggestions as to the correct way of attaching these wires may be of great service to the novice. The poles should have their ends cut off square with a small saw. A hatchet might split the wood. Several sets of wires should be prepared beforehand. The end of each wire should have a twisted loop to attach to one end of a pole. Wire nails, 21% in. long, are best adapted for holding the wires. These should be driven into the ends of the cross and longitudinal poles, or spanners, the loops affixed and the loose ends of the wires attached to the other ends of the respective poles. The main sheeting is then unrolled and strung over the five taut wires, one end of the sheet being secured to the lower wire, which is threaded through the seam. The other end of the sheet passes behind the other base wire. After stretching the sheet tight the surplus end is secured to the taut portion. The triangular end sections are then attached with safety pins, or buttons or snap-fasteners may be provided for the purpose. It will thus be seen that the entire fabric forming the tent is suspended on wires and does not come into contact with any portion of the wooden frame. It is not necessary in a cabin tent of this construction that the poles should be driven into the ground. Instead, a wire may be stretched across to connect the lower ends of the front and rear arches. Holding Papers on a Movable Sloping Desk-Top T is difficult to hold letters or other pieces of paper on the surface of an ordinary sloping top desk, even though paper weights are used for the purpose, as the desk-top must be raised at times Brass wire clip to hold sheets of paper on a sloping desk top that is raised occasionally to gain access to the contents within. The illustration shows how a permanent clip or holder can be made of a piece of light brass wire and spring and placed on the desk-top. A small hole sufficient to take the wire size is drilled down through the desk-top. It in no way interferes with the opening and closing of the desk- top.—F. W. BENTLEY. Keeping Oil from the V-Belt of a Motorcycle IL leaking through the shaft bearing and running on the pulley face and entering the groove caused con- siderable trouble on a V-belt Steel ring o drive of my motorcycle. This {'*"9° difficulty I easily over- came by attaching a Wnereoi steel flange to the inner — would surface of the pulley, os which had a diameter \ SB considerably larger than ¢,.., 5 that of the pulley flange. _ base This prevented the oil from getting into the pulley groove by caus- ing it to drip from the flange edge. The flange was out of the way. Distance from edge of pulley one inch A wide steel flange keeps oil from belt

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Cutting Brass Tubing Rapidly on a Buzz Saw RASS tubing can be cut off to the required lengths very much faster on a buzz saw than by any other method. A square cut is obtained in this way and by cutting with a set stop, lengths are made exact within a few thousandths of an inch. As compared with cutting off in a lathe or Popular Science Monthly A Labor Saving Wood Lift Built In Like 631 a Dumb-Waiter PROPERLY built wood lift is a labor- saving device and may be made in- conspicuous by concealing it by means of a paneled door in the wall, as in the illus- tration. An open-faced box or cage is built and placed in two main braces, to which the pulleys are fastened, serving as

milling machine or by hand the buzz saw’ guides. It runs between two heavy up- ay | a: (T Tir 6 1 || [5 | oO ty (| ayn iT BACK OF LIFT bt [| iba FIXED ROPE I i né (0 ° a Co) me ¢ » . —— =A CH B { acy C aac ) Ml GED BN Gl 2/777 WD ME 2 == A, y LL PULLEY BLOCK 1 ar? C le 22" ‘ ’ moteho l “Tl WINCH 4 24" Mi : B UL : —s h <= " . fh | + i] : = aT oar os J 1 COUNTER e a Ly oe WEIGHT. wigs 22% Lg | = AB

LIFT PULLEY SYSTEM

Parts, guide rails, location of ropes and counterweight for the construction of a wood lift to be built in a house for the saving of labor. will show a multiplied production. Sheet brass can be cut in the same way in thick- nesses up to 14 in. The metal heats in the thicker pieces, and gloves must be worn. A circular saw—not an ordinary wood- cutting saw—is used for ‘cutting metal. These saws have a different temper from wood saws, have finer and different shaped teeth and have very little set. The tubes are held and the work is done just as if they were wood pieces. It is concealed by a panel in the wall rights equipped with guide-rails. A third upright makes a “well” for ropes and a counterweight. Two lengths of 3/16-in. rope, 4 and B, with ends fixed in an over- head pulley-block, run to cage pulleys and back to sheaves fixed in the overhead block, and thence to the winch, as shown. A third length C connects the car with the counter- weight. A lift built to an upper floor, with doors in the first and second floor walls, is almost

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632 - Popular Science Monthly useless unless two cars are placed in the shaft. A two-car system is ideal where the lift is carried to an upper floor with openings on both floors. The upper box has guides of a special design, as shown, LANAAAANRARARURRRRRE AANARARARRARRERRRERES UDPER CAR il EXTENSION GUIDES to allow the lower cage ropes to pass. The} winches are set at right angles to permit each lift to be worked inde- pendently. If the > Ss > ° bs CO) SSS o Py AWAY PULLEYS 4% upper lift alone is nia to be used the lower cage may be kept down. The on spall upper winch should An extra car for the ee permit its use when the lower cage is down, as the accompanying drawing shows. Frequently, because of small capacity, difficulty of operation and inaccessibility, it is as easy to carry firewood upstairs in the old-fashioned way. But this lift has a large capacity and its open side not only offers its contents readily, but provides a means of cleaning. While it is often possi- ble to build a lift beneath a stairway, con- venience should not be sacrificed to save a few feet of floor or bookcase space. There should be some way of reaching the pulley- block at the top of the shaft to oil the pulleys—EpDwWarp R. SMITH. dumb waiter shaft Improving Your Piano by Moistening the Air in the Room RELIABLE piano tuner says that pianos are often injured because they become too dry. Keep a growing plant in the room with the piano and see how much more water it will require than the plants in any other room. A large vase with a wet sponge kept near the piano will supply moisture.—C. A. WOLFE. A Simple Camera Attachment for Photographic Enlarging Fp aig owning an ordinary folding pocket camera with adjustable focus can easily make and use this enlarging out- fit. The sketch shows a longitudinal sec- tion and gives an idea of the general arrangement. The box is fitted up with an electric lamp, socket and reflector. The other end has a sguare hole the size of the opening in the rear of the camera cut into it. Two clamp pieces are cut out and fastened to the box as shown, so that the camera is held firmly to the opening in the front of the box. A slot is recessed over the hole so that a sheet of orange-colored glass will slide in it and cover the square hole, The base-piece is extended several feet beyond the camera and is slotted its entire length. A sliding screen of some light- weight material is made and fastened in the slot in the base with a thumb-screw, as shown. A sheet of fine white tracing paper should be fastened over the inside of the hole in the box so as to diffuse the light from the reflector and prevent unevenness of light distribution. Place the film or plate in the opening in the back of the camera and turn on the light. Have the sheet of orange glass in the groove provided for it back of the camera. Darken the room and pin a sheet of bromide or other enlarging paper on the sliding screen with thumbtacks. The orange light coming through the lens will furnish sufficient illumination for this. Now focus the image on the paper by moving the camera bellows in or out and by moving the screen to and from the yowiten = \ fi_@) —— Screen Camera 5) Ss 222222 SSS S55 Enlarging pictures with an ordinary camera placed on a box inclosing an electric light camera until the correct focus is obtained. Now slide out the orange glass and expose the paper for the required time, after which replace the glass to stop exposure. Develop the paper in a red or orange light only. A sixteen candlepower mazda light will oper- ate the apparatus.—B. FRANCIS DASHIELL. tom Ho =m He RF OR OR em OF oh, oO OULD Se AF of re 4. — or © @ && CO FF 3986) weer st ele —eo me —_ a — _ 34 ® RP ere -—

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ww ew we A Teeter Swing for Public or Private Playground HE illustration shows a way to make a permanent amusement device for chil- dren’s playgrounds. It is inexpensive to build and if erected will prove as attractive to children as many other more elaborate de- vices. Two planks A 16 ft. long, 10 in. wide and 2 in. thick form the sup- port for the teeter B, which is made of two pipes, each 1144 in. in diameter and g ft. long. The seats C s consist of a mss > board strapped ; on the pipe ar- rangement D which provides an opening for the legs, mak- ing it almost impossible for a child to fall out of the seat. The support for the ‘main pipes is shown at F, each end of which passes through the planks with a coupling on the ends to prevent the piece dropping out of the holes bored in the planks. The plank ends are sunk into the ground at one end and fastened together with a bolt F. The piece G_ is made from 144-in. pipe strapped to the planks at H. Window cord is at- tached at the ends J. Two children, even of very un- equal weight, can have an enjoyable time on this swing, as the teeter is worked by pulling on the cords rather than by balancing weight. The riders can use their feet to help the movement. If required, a brake can be easily added to prevent ‘the seats striking the ground.—Jamrs E. Nos.e. Details of the parts for making a teeter swing A playground teeter made of pipe and fittings for the swinging part and planks set in the ground for the supports Popular Science Monthly | 633. An Interesting Experiment with Sulphate of Soda N experiment of an unusual character may be made with a_ thoroughly sterilized glass rod and a supersaturated solution of sulphate of soda. The phenom- enon is so extraordinary that any one who may make the trial will find it difficult to clearly explain the result. To make it more ‘interesting four glass tumblers should be used. Place them in a saucepan of cold water with their bottoms resting on cardboard, then bring the water to a boil. Meantime dissolve some ~’ sulphate of soda in an- other vessel, by pouring the soda sul- phate into boiling water until the water will take onno more. Now remove the tumblers and place them upon a board. Fill them with the saturated solution and stand them aside to cool in a place free from vibration. If this part of the work is done at night the solution will be quite cold in the morning and ready for the test. Do not disturb the contents of the tumblers, or crystallization will set in at once and spoil the experiment. Take an ordinary round glass stirring- rod that is about 1 ft. long and 5/16 in. in diameter and clean it well; then in the flame of an alcohol or other burner heat about 3 in. on one end of the rod almost red hot and place it to cool in such a position that the heated end will not touch anything. As soon as cold, take the rod and dip the end that was heated into one of the tum- blers containing the solution. No action whatever will take place; but as soon as the other end is inserted, the salt will im- mediately start to crystallize and will rapidly continue to do so until the solution becomes a solid mass. If each tumbler is stirred at the start with the sterilized end of the rod, the same performance will take place.

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Drying Fruits and Vegetables A simple method of drying your surplus sup ply of fruits and vegetables for future use are not so apparent for the farm home as they are for the town and city household, which has no root cellar or other place in which to store fresh vegeta- bles. For the farmer’s wife the new meth- ods of canning probably will be better than sun drying, which requires a somewhat longer time. But quicker methods of dry- ing are now in use, and the dried product holds an advantage in that it usually requires fewer jars, cans or other containers than do canned fruits or vege- tables; also dried ma- terial can be stored in receptacles which can- not be used for canning. Then, too, canned fruit and vegetables freeze and cannot be shipped in absolute safety con- veniently in winter. With a simple and in- expensive equipment all housewives can save quantities of food which , are too small con- lise ™~ veniently tocan. A hiss m wea few sweet potatoes or apples or peas or even a single turnip can be dried and saved. Even when very small quanti- ties are dried at a time, a quantity suf- ficient for a meal will soon be secured. Small mixed lots of dried vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, turnips, potatoes, and onions, can be packed together and used for soups and stews. Three principal ways are applicable for the home preparation of dried fruits and vegetables; namely, sun drying, drying by artificial heat, and drying by air blast. These, of course, may be combined. In general, most fruits or vegetables, to be dried quickly, must be shredded or cut into slices, because many are too large to dry quickly or are covered with a skin, the pur- en advantages of drying vegetables A frame made of laths or strips of wood to hold trays of galvanized wire mesh and swung over the range with a crane 634 pose of which is to prevent drying out. When freshly cut fruits or vegetables are to be dried by means of artificial heat, they should be exposed first to gentle heat and later to the higher temperatures. If the air applied at the outset is of too high a tem- perature, the cut surfaces of the sliced fruits or vegetables become hard, or scorched, covering the juicy interior so that it will not dry out. Generally it is not desirable that the air temperature in drying should go above 140 deg. or 150 deg. F., and it is better to keep it well below this point. Insects and insect eggs are killed by exposure to heat of this temperature. It is important to know the degree of heat in the dryer, and this cannot be determined very ac- curately except by using a thermome- ter. Inexpensive oven thermometers can be found on the market, or an ordi- nary chemical ther- mometer can be sus- pended in the dryer. If a thermometer is not used, the great- est care should be given to the regula- tion of heat. The temperature in the dryer rises rather quickly and the product may scorch unless close attention is given. The reason sun drying is popularly believed to give fruits and vegetables a sweeter flavor is probably because in the sun they are never scorched, whereas in the oven or over a stove, scorching is a common occurrence. A cheap and very satisfactory dryer for use over the kitchen stove is one that was worked out by the Department of Agri- culture at Washington. Any handy boy or me ‘ S55 ee et ae OO et me Of OC

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carpenter can make one from a_ small quantity of fine mesh galvanized wire netting and a number of laths and strips of wood about % in. thick and 2 in. wide. The screen may be tacked directly on the framework to make the drying shelves, or the framework can be made to support separate trays. By using two laths nailed together the framework can be stiffened and larger trays made if desirable. This form or any of the lighter makes of dryers can be suspended from the ceiling over the kitchen range or over the oil or gas stove, and it will utilize the hot air which rises during the cooking hour. It can be raised out of the way or swung to one side by a —— / i bes / {17h / Hf TBO" FPT FIT IIIT TUE SIGETE, HITED Wat 4) / / ‘y

i ~ SE crane made of lath SSSA when the stove is re- SONS i f ki it Se quired for cooking ete purposes, and low- NSao* oe ered or swung back << to utilize the heat which otherwise would be wasted when the top of the stove is not in use. Another home- made cookstove dryer that can be used on a wood or coal range or a kero- sene stove can be made easily and cheaply as shown in the second illustration. The dimensions of the base are 24 by 16 in., the height being 36 in. A base 6 in. high is made of galvanized sheet iron. The base slightly flares toward the bottom and has two small openings for ventilation in each of the four sides. On the base rests a box-like frame made of 1 or 114-in. strips of wood. The two sides are braced with 1]4 in. strips which serve as cleats on which the trays in the dryer rest. These are placed at intervals of 3 in. The frame is covered with tin or galvanized iron which is tacked to the wood strips of the frame. Thin strips of wood may be used instead of tin or sheet iron. The door is fitted on small hinges and fastened with a thumb latch. It opens wide so that the trays can be re- moved easily. The bottom of the dryer is made of a piece of perforated galvanized

Popular Science Monthly

A cookstove dryer that has a metal base for setting on top of a wood or coal range 635 sheet iron. About 2 in. above the bottom is placed a solid sheet of galvanized iron which is 3 in. less in length and width than the bottom. This sheet rests on two wires fastened to the sides of the dryer. This prevents the direct heat from coming in contact with the product and serves as a radiator to spread the heat more evenly. The first tray is placed 3 in. above the radiator. The trays rest on the cleats 3 in. apart. A dryer of the given dimensions will hold 8 trays. The frame of the tray is made of I-in. strips on which is tacked galvanized screen wire, which forms the bottom of the tray. The tray is 21 by 15 in., making it 3 in. less in depth than the dryer. The lowest tray when placed in the dryer is pushed back, leav- (| ing the 3-in. space in front. The next tray is placed even with the front, leav- ing a 3-in. space in the back. The other trays alternate in the same way. This permits the current of heated air to pass around and over the trays. A ventilator opening, about 2 in. wide and 6 in. long, is left in the top of the dryer, through which the moist air may pass away. This principle of construction is followed so that currents of heated air will pass over the product as well as up through it, gathering the moisture and passing away. The movement of the current of air in- duces a more rapid and uniform drying. The upper trays can be shifted to the lower part of the dryer, and the lower trays to the upper part as drying proceeds. If fruits or vegetables are packed in tight containers immediately upon being dried thoroughly, they will remain just as brittle as they were when taken from the dryer. If, however, they are not dried thoroughly, they will ‘‘sweat’’ and soon mold. To prevent this the material should be examined within 24 hours after packing, and if it appears moist, dried further.

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636 Popular Science Monthly _ A Bracing for an Iron Pipe Fence Post HE illustration shows how a fence, the posts of which were ordinary iron pipe, was braced with a bent piece of the same sized pipe so as to stand a severe . A curved post brace set in concrete to make a solid support for stretching wire tightly pull when the wire fencing was stretched on it. The brace and the posts were filled with cement, and the ring was inserted in it. The ring was shaped from a piece of heavy, flat wrought iron, which had enough shank to fit solidly into the pipe. The bases for the posts were built first and the remainder of the concrete work was left until later on, so that should any cracks develop along the edge of the post base they could be easily located and remedied.—JAMES M. KANE. Attaching Linoleum to a Cement Floor GOOD cement for attaching linoleum to a cement floor may be made as follows: Manila gum 15 parts, brown rosin 20 parts and thick turpentine 45 parts, all by weight. Pulverize the rosin and gum and heat until melted; then thin out with denatured alcohol, using 20 parts. Casing for Carrying Tube Cements Without Damage AVING trouble keeping the rubber cement tubes in the tool bag of my bicycle clean, I devised the tube-carrying case shown in the illustration. It consists of a brass tube about I in. longer than the cement tube and a little larger in diameter, with one end plugged and the other corked.—AxEL H. JOHNSON. Small brass case in- closing tube cement A Silver-Plating Bath and How to Use It HE most important attribute for the amateur plater to cultivate is caution, He is working with some of the most deadly poisons known to chemistry. He should not inhale the fumes given off in mixing solutions and should not get these solutions on his hands or clothing. No vessel employed in plating should be used for any other purpose. The electric current for plating should be’ supplied by some form of steady current battery, giving low voltage and. high amperage, such as the Edison primary, Bunsen, or Fuller cells. The cells of the battery should be connected in parallel, The current must not be above two volts, For the anode, purchase a sheet of pure silver from a jewelry supply house. The sheet surface should contain from 1 to 4 sq. in. Such a plate 1/32 in. thick will cost from 75 to 90 cents. The position of the anede should be adjustable; so that more or less of its surface can be immersed, and so that it may be moved toward or away from the article being plated. A pair of heavy wires should be provided, long enough to reach across the top of the plating tank. When placed in position the wire carrying the anode is connected with the carbon of the battery, and the one carrying the article to be plated is connected with the zinc. Cut several lengths of No. 14 or No. 16 copper wire; bend into a hook at the top, to hang on the rod connected with the zinc, and long enough to reach to the bottom of the tank. These are called “slinging wires,’’ being twisted around the work suspended in the solution. The next operation is to mix the solutions. Only pure chemicals should be used. Grad- uates, mixing vessels, evaporating dishes, mixing rods, etc., must be chemically clean. Use glass rods or tubing for stirring rods. The nitrate of silver bath is made by dissolving pure scrap silver in a 25 per cent nitric acid solution. After the solution has been evaporated, the resultant crystals are dissolved in two quarts of distilled water. In another vessel, mix I oz. of potassium cyanide crystals in water, and add this slowly to the silver nitrate solution. Enough of the two solutions have been mixed when a precipitate forms. The liquid should be poured carefully from the material in the bottom, which is silver cyanide. This precipitate should be thor- oughly washed in pure cold water. Se eter et st eRe © ff WD O ~~ — es st A FF 4) AOS Oe Of

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Make up another solution of 1 oz. of the cyanide salts in a quart of pure water and pour enough of this over the washed precipitate to dissolve it, stirring well. When a clear, colorless liquid results, add more of the cyanide solution as there must be a slight excess of cyanide in the plating bath. Add enough water to give the desired quantity or strength. If pure silver nitrate can be obtained, it may be used instead of the metal solution. Pure nitrate will contain approximately 635 grains of the metal in each 1000 grains of the salt. A very good solution for ordinary work can be made by dissolving 1 oz. of pure silver nitrate in 40 oz. of water and pro- ceeding as above to throw down and wash the precipitate and redissolve it in the cyanides. By adding two quarts of water, it is ready for use. Preparing the Article to Be Plated Having prepared the apparatus and solutions, the preparation of the work to be plated is next in order. Plating will cover no defects, such as stains, scratches, etc., but is likely to make them more prominent. Every blemish should be re- moved with a file or emery paper and the surface polished. To remove corrosion from brass, copper, etc., soak the article in a solution made by adding—a little at a time with free stirring —3 oz. of sulphuric acid to 4 oz. of water, and when this has cooled, pour in 134 oz. of nitric acid. Be sure to add the sulphuric acid to the water a little at a time, allowing it to mix and cool before adding more, finally adding the nitric acid. Soak the work to be cleaned in this solution until all the corrosion is dissolved, or softened so that it may be removed with a stiff brush; then rinse thoroughly and polish. The time required to remove corrosion will vary from a few seconds to an hour or more. Those parts which are to have a polished appearance when finished must be well polished before they are plated. This may be done in any way convenient. To use a polishing lathe or stand is the best method. Cloth disks, from 3 in. to 6 in. in diameter and 14 in. to 1 in. thick may be made, some of canvas or other heavy, hard cloth, and others of flannel or muslin for the finishing touches. They should be used with powdered abrasives, using emery for the rougher operations and finishing with fine polishing powders and soft disks. If a Popular Science Monthly 637 lathe is not at hand, use brushes, and cloths. When the work has been polished it should be washed thoroughly so that no traces of the polishing materials re- main. After polishing and washing, the articles should be attached to the slinging wires so that they need not be touched by the hands again. Soak the work a few moments in a hot solution made of a table- spoonful of potash in a pint of water. This is the potash “dip’”’ and is to remove all traces of grease and dirt that may have been left. After being given the potash dip the work is laid on a board where a small stream of water may flow over it while it is brushed with a stiff bristle brush, kept wet and occasionally dipped into pow- dered pumice stone. This will remove all the potash and grease and also give a slight grain to the surface of the plated article. After scouring, rinse the work well in running water and soak for a few seconds in a solution made by dissolving an ounce of potassium cyanide in a pint of water and hang at once in the plating bath. Have the anode in position and the battery connected before hanging the work; other- wise the cyanide in the bath will attack the metal and injure the bath. The article will become white in a moment and a plate of silver will be deposited in from ten to fifteen minutes. The Finishing Touches When plated heavily enough, the article should be taken from the bath, rinsed in boiling water and dropped into fine, warm sawdust to dry. Exposure of a freshly plated surface to the air and light while it is covered with a film of the plating solu- tion, will cause it to turn yellow. When dried in the sawdust, it should be brushed and will appear a frosty white. The first finishing is scratch brushing. A small brush wheel of fine brass wire is held in a lathe or polishing stand, and kept wet with stale beer or oatmeal water. The plated surface is held against it. Without a machine a bristle brush may be used, if stiff enough. When all the chalky whiteness has disappeared and the metal shows an even, dull color, give it another rinsing in plenty of water and dry. It is now ready for buffing and polishing with soft materials, light pressure and fine polishing powders. If an extra heavy and durable plate

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638 7 Popular Science Monthly is desired, it is best to proceed as follows: Apply a first plate and finish it. Then go over the operation again, dipping in the hot potash solution, rinsing, scouring, dipping again in the cyanide solution and replacing in the plating bath and then finishing and polishing a second time. This will give better results than if a very heavy plate were put on in one operation. Articles of different metals or alloy, will not plate at the same time. This will be noticed if there is a soldered joint in the work. Such joints must receive treatment so the solder of the joint will take the plate as well as the rest of the ‘surface. To plate on a soldered joint, make an ounce or two of saturated solution of sulphate of copper and distilled water. Add one-tenth of its volume of sulphuric acid. After the work has received the final scouring and rinsing, and before dipping in the cyanide bath, take a piece of small, clean, iron wire, or a small brush made of iron wire, and dip it in the sulphate solution and draw along the joint. A film of copper will cover the solder instan- taneously and to this the silver will readily adhere. If the current is too heavy, the silver film deposited will lie loosely, with a hard dark appearance, and such a plate will not polish. This condition may be remedied by moving the articles farther from the anode and by raising the anode so that Jess of its surface is in the bath. Too high voltage with too little amperage will also cause a deposit of this kind. Articles being plated should be kept in gentle motion or moved frequently, as the solution has a tendency to settle, re- sulting in uneven plating. Too much cyanide in the plating bath will cause the anode plate to assume a white frosted appearance with rough edges. A deposit from such a bath cannot be polished readily. Too little cyanide will cause the anode plate to be covered with a dark deposit having a hard, close-grained appearance, and the plating will be dirty and uneven. When either condition ap- pears, it should be remedied by the addi- tion of a small amount of silver solution, or of the cyanide solution, whichever is necessary. When a bath works properly and the anode remains clean and bright, the only material to be added is a little distilled water occasionally, to counteract evapora- tion. A plating bath will remain fresh for a long time if the evaporation is taken care of, and the vessel protected from dust and strong light. All operations connected with the actual depositing of the plate and the first finishmg should be conducted in dim light. A strong bright light will have a harmful effect on both the plating solution and the freshly deposited silver. A Simple Toy Motor Run with Dry Sand HE only materials needed in the con- struction of this sand motor are 2 needles, 1 cork stopper, some cardboard and heavy paper, glue and a quantity of fine sand. The stopper should be a very large size. On both ends of. the cork mark off with a pencil a 6-sided polygon. With a sharp knife cut the cork as shown in Fig. 1. Cut six pieces of cardboard for the blades of the sandwheel and glue them to the cork as shown in Fig. 2. Push a needle, eye first, into each end of the cork, as shown. Fig2 Fig.3 The sand falling from the cone drops on the edge of the uppermost blade of the wheel The framework of the motor shown in Fig. 3 is made from three pieces of card- board glued together. The sand wheel is mounted at the bottom of the frame by pushing the needles through the cardboard. From the top of the frame a paper horn, filled with sand, is suspended by a short piece of thread. The sand sifts down over the blades of the wheel through a hole in the end of the horn. A small cardboard box should be placed under the wheel to catch the sand as it drops from the blades. A small grooved pulley wheel may be attached to one needle end and used with a thread for a belt to turn a light toy machine. The wheel can be fastened with a bit of wax. The sharp ends of the needles should be broken off.—E. P. THORNTON.

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= Qa cv The fax. By Hu. Blackwell _ S777 OR the person always carrying a E camera in the woods in search of pictures the wigwam illustrated will be of considerable interest, as the tripod of the camera equipment is used for the sup- port. The other necessary parts are four pieces of 2-in. material 34 in. thick, two 23 in. long and two 28 in. long, three small blocks, three hinges, two pieces of %-in. rope, each 9 ft. long and 4 yards of cloth 34 in. wide. The four pieces are fastened together as shown at A, placing the hinges on the ends of the joining parts. One of the blocks is cut like a triangle and fastened at the back to one piece as shown. The other two blocks are cut rectangular and nailed to the inside surfaces on the ends of the pieces not joined with a hinge. Holes are bored in these blocks about 1 in. deep to admit the ends of the tripod legs. Holes 14 in. in diameter are bored through the pieces as at B, C, D and E. Center of top Wigwam Made of yee a Ww Cs Z WN, é odie ; a Be A loop about 5 in. in diameter is made of a scrap of cord or rope and placed over the top of the tripod after the feet are set in the holes bored in the blocks. Tie a knot in one end of one rope and run the opposite end through the hole B, up over the loop, down and through the hole C; draw up snugly and tie the end. Run the other rope through the holes D, E and the loop in the same manner, and tie knots in the ends. A stick with a notch in each end and about 16 in. long is placed in the tripod at F before the last rope is drawn in place. When this is complete the frame may be picked up and carried without fear of its falling apart. The cover may be of burlap, canvas, duck, denim or muslin. It is made of two pieces, each 2 yards long. Sew them together as shown in the _ illustration. The two pieces of cloth are sewed together in an L-shape, then wrapped around the tripod legs, and tied down to form the wigwam top, with a front opening at the point where there is no base 639

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640 This is placed over the tripod top, locating place G on the screw-plate of the tripod. The corner of the cloth H is fastened at D; then the cover is carried around the frame, folding where necessary. It is then trim- med on the lines J, J and K. The trim- ming should not be done until it is in position on the frame and pinned. After shaping it in this manner the pins will hold it so that the cover may be removed for sewing. When complete it can be dropped over the frame and fastened to the base pieces with thumb tacks. A Siphon Made Out of Gas Pipe and Fittings SIPHON is very frequently needed for many purposes about a manu- facturing plant. The illustration shows how a very practical siphon can be con- structed from pipe fittings, and which will work very satisfactorily under almost any circumstances. A I-in. tee is used for the body, : the vertical openings being yal respectively in- Vato ¥6 reducing take and de- manens- livery. In the = horizontal open- ing is placed a Y to I-in. re- ducing bushing. A \% by 4-in. nipple is threaded for about 3 in. of its length and started into the bushing. When a few threads have passed the inner side of the reducing bushing, a 4 in. street el is caught on the end of the nipple and is of course turned on as the nipple enters the bush. As a result the nipple will be tight in the street el when the lower or nozzle end of it is at about the center of the tee. The hexagonal upper portion is cut from a 4 to 3%-in. reducing bushing, leaving a nut, which is run up on the 4-in. nipple before entering it; but it is after- wards tightened against the 14 to I-in. reducing bush, affording a very practical lock for the nozzle. When the steam is turned into the 44-in. connection, the de- vice will afford a very practical and satis- factory siphon for all common lifting purposes generally arising around the shop or plant. Even if the required fittings had Intake A siphon made of pipe and fittings to be purchased they would cost very little.—F. W. BENTLEY. Popular Scrence Monthly ‘ Making a Miter Box for Cutting Trestle Legs IN doing some odd jobs one day I found that it was necessary to have a trestle, and as there was none at hand I collected A piece of wood with gage sticks set in | ~ a vise to cut the miter on trestle legs { the material for making one. Then to cut the miters for the legs became a problem) ~ I did not care to lay out each leg separately, 4 to cut the right miter. After making somé’” calculations an emergency miter box was ~ made as illustrated. It consisted of a piece A, of the same stock used for the — legs, and three pieces B, C and D, nailed — to the sides in such positions as to make the proper angle for the miter. A nail placed in the piece D, as shown, served” as a stop.—JAMEs M. KANE. ; e Replacing Tongue in a Fancy Brass Hook SET of four fancy brass snap hooks” was given to me for repairs and on) account of being unable to find a duplicate = I replaced the broken ‘ingedl member with a piece of fla clock-spring as shown. It was” soldered in| place instead = of being riv- 7 eted. The™ original tight- 7 ening spring was left in place to straighten 7 the clock-spring. A portion of the. flat spring was cut off to allow more freedom in | opening.—JAMES M. KANE. Clock spring " Solder Spring A flat clock spring re- placing a snap tongue