CAN OPENER THAT IS SIMPLE.
TOO WARM.
MA
..'r'.;,V AND vix
B?J4. -
A.
r
USE OF CONCRETE PIPING.
Material Is Now Deing Used for
Buildings of All Kinds, Large
and Small.
Wrilf iron anil stool nion insist
l lull this is an ago of stool, anil elec
trical i-nginoeru holil it is tin; elec
trical iiKo, concrete builders maintain
Mint it i also the concrete ago, and
everyone will agroo that while con
Mote lias boon utilized for conturios
past, it Iibb novor boon so universally
employed us at present, liuildings of
:U1 kinds-, largo and small, vessels,
railroad tics, pavornouts, mine shafts,
walls, breakwaters, piers, piles, wa
Vr and sower pipe, tanks and wells,
ss well as many other kinds of con--driiftiun
aro now being made of con
crete. At W'aukegnn, 111., a lino of 5,000
toot ot such, pipe is being laid. The
diameter of tho pipo is 48 inches.
.Mure than 1,000 fen-t of pipo (it! inches
in diameter has hi en laid at Atlantic
City, and in still another city a lino of
pipe 72 inches in diameter has becu
completed for a distance of 4,000 foot.
I lyiiro electric power plants are also
using reinforced couorote pipo.
ART OF CURRYC0MBING HORSE
Newly Invented Device Has Cleaning
Attachment, Keeping Comb
Free of Dirt.
The process of rurryeonibing a
Inure tr- an art, and one not to be
Si-ike Wires Against Stall.
iean'cil at. first attempt; hut. even a
.lovice, equipped with the currycomb
: d by an Ohio man will find the
Job :!sir than an expert will find it
who uses tho old-stylo comb. This
r.evv d' 'Ai'-e bases its advantage in the
,.ict that it ha:; a cleaning attachment
.a i ;i:is uf which tho comb may be
l.opt Hear of dirt as the work goes
, a. This consists of a hammer head
o adjmttd at tho edge f tho comb I
Mat a sli.Jit jar sets it in vibration
uul the j articles of dirt are shaken
at. Across the P:hU of the instiii
.i.i nt are, wires so bent as to engage
.he Iciiumcr head and hold it loosely
mi position. The hostler needs only
in strike tho wires against, the side
nl it Mall and the hammer head is sol
into vibration. I'tiless a currycomb
is kept cl"an it cannot be used ef
fectively, as tho corrugations become
dogged and it passes over the horse's
hide w itiioiit any result.
REMEDY FOR LOOsTsCREWS.
A convenient method of making a
loose strew hold is illustrated hero
.villi. Take a soft piece of copper
win- ami wind it around the threads
A Remedy for Loose Wood Screws.
l' the strew as shown, thus in effect
increasing the diameter of tho
threaded part. This . will save plug
ging or using a larger wrew. Scien
tific American.
Battleflect Cruise.
From every point of view tho round-Hio-woidd
cruise of the battleship fleet
was a pronounced success, and the
crowning indorsement of nil has been
the recent announcement of the Us-1
sish.nt seetelnry of the navy that the!
repairs to :j of tho It! battleships j
that pintle tho voyage have been coin- ;
iilcted at a total cost to the engineer-1
iag ami the equipment hi:rcn,'.s of i
.sM.2Mi. or less than $l,i'iil per ship,!
says the Scientilic American. Mav ;
were the predictions of tumble, dam-!
iige, and vttj disaster, at the time oi !
tho f-tUUilfiT of the fleet; but not one
lias been fulfilled. On the contrary, ;
tho licnelit. to the navy in the In-,
crease of its physical efficiency and ,
the improvement uf Ws moiale has'
been inv alitablo. ;
Shipwrecks In Hell Gale.
More than $ l.lMtn.noo a ytar Is lost,
by shipwrec ks it! the Moll dale chan-1
uels In tho Hast, river, although mll-i
lions have been spent on improving
ilio tfiitr.oiw channels I
Illinois has the greatest number of
electric plants of any state, ;;ys; New
York is second with :'..'S, and I'ciuis.vl
vanfn third with "!.
mm M j
Every Housewife Would Welcome
Oris That Can Be Used Without i
Fear of Cutting.
Every housewife would undoubtedly
welconi the invention of a really
simple and substantial can opener,
one that she could operate without
danger of cutting, her hands. Sim
plicity and efficiency seem to bo the
keynote of tho one shown iu tho illus
tration below, designed and invented
by a Detroit, man. In opening n can
the point at the end is thrust into
tho central portion of the top of the
can and the bar brought so that it Hvs
Cuts Top or Side of Can.
parallel with tho top of tho can. Thw
cutter is then regulated on tho
tootlted bar so that it will cut either
tho to) of tho can or tho side. With
a Jinn pull on tho handle tho tin can
he easily severed. It will be noticed
that there aro practically two cutters,
one for cutting the top of the can and
another for cutting the side of the
can. This will be found convenient
when it is desired to remove the Con
tent:; without disarranging them.
TRANSVERSE WAGON SPRING.
When Side Springs Are Sufficiently
Depressed They Come Into
Useful Action.
In addition to the ordinary Hide
springs which support the body, a
heavy wagon is usually lit ted with a
transverse spring which is not fisod
to tho axle but rests one inch or 1 Vj
inches above it. The reason of this is
that when the wagon is running
empty or with a light load the ordin
ary springs aro sufficient, but when it
is fully loaded, and the side spring-;
are sufficiently depressed, the trans-
Trancveree Springs.
verse siuing conies Into action and
hilps to boar tho weight and strain.
INDUSTRIAL NOTES.
North Carolina. South Dakota. Colo
rado, Alabama ami Virginia, in the or
der named, lead in the production of
mica.
In their writings tho Chinese use at
h ast. 214 groups of signs, each con
taining from live to 1 4 separate
characters.
An international moving picture ex
hibition, including apparatus and at
tachments of till sorts, is being held
In London.
France has followed the lead of tho
I'nitod Stales in (lie establishment Of
a laboratory for tho investigation of
mine accidents.
Now Mexico produced 2,4t'.7,0P,7
short tons of coal last your, a de
crease of a xi more than six per
cent, from tho output of 11)07.
Lighting Niagara.
Plans for the permanent illumina
tion of Niagara Falls this summer have
boon worked out by Kngineor Ryan of
tho (leueral Klectrio company. Tho
details will bo laid before a commit
tee of interested citizens from
Niagara Falls, Out., and Niagara
Falls. N. V.
The plans, as outlined by Mr. Ryau,
call for two batteries of lights, one
lo lie known as the Cliff battery, the
oilier as the Gorge battery. It is
planned lo excavate a recess in the
Canadian cliff opposite Coat Island,
this shelf to be U'S feet long and 12
feet: wide, and height of the excava
tion to be 10 feet. Hero will bo In
stalled twenty projectors, each thirty
iiu lies in diameter.
Tho previous illumination made
dining tho progress of tho exposition
at Ihiffalo was of l.r.iiii.ouo nominal
cnndlcpowtr, v-fcrees the proposed
illumination will bo LViiit1 tiun nominal
( ntiiilcpiiwcr.
Tree Planting by Dynamite.
Holes for tree planting, according
to tho Kngineeiing Record, h ive been
excavated by tho Long Island railway
by blasting with dynamite.
A hole about two feet deep was
first dug with a posi-holo auger at
.Mi angle o,' about thirty-live degree
with the surface, and loaded with
half n stick of 10 per cent, dynamite,
This shot makes a hob' about two
feet deep and three feet In diameter,
leaving the earth In the bottom pul
verized suitably for planting. It, is
stated that two men tan thus excavate
2M holes in a ten hour day nt n cost
of about. 7'i cents a hoi
INTERESTING GAME FOR BOYS;
Good Substitute f?r Baieball Where j
Large Field for Latter Cannot
Be Secured. !
One eiin say nothing unkind about
baseball, for it really is a splendid
game, livery buy will tell you that.
Hut there aro times when an open
spate large enough for a ball field
isn't near, or a stilllclent number of
players cannot be hail. Nor is base
ball a game hi which girls readily can
join.
Kggball is different. Hull) girls and
boys can play, in 'most any number,
and have an enjoyable time. A very
small space, easily found In a back
yard, provides tho "Hold."
In the center of tho held set a rod
upright, with its top about eight feet
above ground. Fasten to tho extreme
end of the rod a hook or ring, and to
this atlach a cord. Carefully empty
an egg; then make it secure at the
rnd of the cord, by tho method illus
trated in the diagram.
Kaeh player has n ractpiet. The
rim should bo constructed of paste
board and covered with stout paper.
Little courts are marked, outward
from tho polo. No player must move
from his or her court while tho game
is on. The egghall Is started by a
player. Then each player In turn
Mrikes at it with tho ractpiet. Any
player w ho misses the ball upon strik-
Game of Eggball.
big musi retire from tho game. It is
not necessary to endeavor to hit the
ball liming each round. Too tilflicult
(hots may bo passed by. That player
who remains longest iu the game
wins.
REFUSED TO NEGLECT BABY.
Little Girl, Caring for Small Sister,
Wouldn't Let Curiosity Get
Eetter of Her.
She was a tiny little girl, with sun- j
tunned hair, a b!uo calico dress and j
bare feet. ,Shr carried in her firms j
a baby half as largo as herself, ami !
the baby was so heavy that it sagged I
down in the middle, giving tho infant j
tho appearance ot b i!,g held by tii 1
loot and the nape of tho node.
There was sumo excitement around
the corner of the next block, and tie
children were hurrying forward lile'
mad from all directions. The littl''
girl tried to run, but the baby was
too heavy, and her breath gave out.
Said I. in a spirit of badinage:
"Drop the baby, sis, and go see what,
the trouble is."
She stoppeil and stared at me.
"1 say, put the baby down on tl,.
sidewalk and run."
"Yer must take mo for u fool, mi
ter." "Why?-
" 'Cos this Is our baby."
"Well, supposo it Is? Jil stay h
ami watch it for yon."
"No, yer won't mister, Yer mtgt.t
rnrry It off."
"What if I did? Aren't you tired of
carry.Vig it around and making ymr
back ache?"
"Naw, I ain't. Say. mister, this in
the only baby we've got, and if yer
only knowed how she can crow ami
laugh, yer wouldn't want mo to do no
such thing. This baby hain't got no
ma, Yept nio, and pa and mo couldn't
do 'thont her. She sets up In n Iifgh
chalr at the table and crows and kicks
while me and pa eats, and at night I
rock her to sleep like ma used lo do.
When ma tiled the baby didn't know
no letter, but just laughed ami hol
lered, and I e,i(.d so I couldn't keen
licr still, put her down on the side
walk! Fool-kllleNI get you. mister,
of yer stand around here long."
Jamie's Bath.
It was Jamie's l,ath night. He lia I
several each week and he hated t! ,.i
all. On Ibis particular night, om e
started, ho soaked ami ppiasl'icl i i
the tub for a full half hour, then h s
mother hnled him forth. Ho (:
out of the room in his pajamas v, v i
his lace all st ranked nnd dirty as :t
was when ho went is.
"Mercy!" cried his mother. 'I
thought you took a bath!"
"So I did!" answered Jamie mmm
rally. "A bully one!"
"Ihtt your face Is black!" said I is
mother.
"Oh!" .Tnmlcs smiled undeisti.i: !
Ingly. "My faee is nil right. I have
to wash that In the morning, bath or
no bath. You don't s'poso I'm go: ig
to waste time bathing my face! I
always begin Just below my ears and
work down on my arms and legs; but
I always leave my face ami hands -(Iioho
ends I 'teed to in the morning "
.j j
Yin wiiini lo wets In tin- Hummer,
Willi liir.v lianilM tiil feet;
I'lO if it iiliTnieUiii Is cut
"lis never Inn w .inn lo i':it.
I n) warm In wmk In tlm minimcr;
Hut If Hmtc's n IiIk -1 r-ti ; ulievv
''en's In low it, Willi :i J i ! I - ilnvvn,
"I'U never Inn warm In K".
V "' warm tn wnrU I" ite niiiinie-r;
Cut In rump unit pliiv nmt run
I - such a very illtTi leiit tliiiuc.
1 "i- its never In" wit nil for fun.
VERY FOOLISH LITTLE BOY
Forgot That People Who Live in
Glass Houses Should Not Throw
Stones Disastrous Result.
There was onco a little boy who
lived In a honso all made of glass. Il
lived with his mother and his father
and his nurse, and be used to have ti
lovely time sliding on tho glass doors.
And everything went well whllo ho
was good, bill one day ho wasn't. I lo
was cross. When ho slipped on tho
glass floor, instead of thinking It fun,
l o was angry, and when ho went
down to breakfast ho slid down the
glass banisters, which ho ought not
to have done. And ho spilled bis
milk on tho glass table and made
marks all over Hie glass walls with
soap. And finally lie looked out of
tiio win I mean tho wall, for, of
course, all tho walla were windows
and saw some children playing and
making lots of noise. That made him
crosser, so ho went down to tho back
yard and collected a lot of stones anil
went upstairs again and threw them
at the children, which was tho naugh
tiest thing yet. Ho couldn't dodge out
of sight, because tho whole wall was
glass, so when tho children looked
up they saw hint there. They worn
quite indignant, so they lacked up the
stones and threw them back at the
httle boy. They hit the house In all
directions, and math such' alarming
jagged holes that the little boy's
mother and father came running In,
and taking Iho litilo boy's hands ran
downstairs and out as tpiickly as po'i
siblf. The house collapsed complete
ly. The fathere shook his head.
"We'll have to take a brick cot
tage," he said. "Ob, my boy, don't
you know that people who live In
glass 'bouses shouldn't throw stones?"
LITTLE STUNT WITH CORKS
Pile Them In a Column and See if
You Can Knock Them Off
One at a Time.
This picture shows a little cork
"stunt" that seems quit" simple.
To one end of a piece of string Is
tied a cork ami to iho other end Is at
tached a rod. Pile up a number (f
corks iu a single column a difficult
feat in itself. Then "fish" with your
roil, trying to knock one cork at a
Getting One at a Time.
time from the column without destrov
ing the balance of tho other corks In
tho heap.
It takes a skilful person to do this
trick successfully.
Tiny Magnificent Slippers.
When the now baby princess of
Holland puts down her royal foot by
way of emphasis, it will be with tho
most beautiful American footwear
that ever graced the sole of a pro
spective monarch. Her slippers have
bel li designed and made) by an Amer
ican shoemaker, from the daintiest
r.nd finest piece of white kid and
calfskin ever turned out In Paris. One
: pet dally beautiful pair have been
lined with pieces of (J'leen Williel
mii.a's wedding gown, and the cost
was $"mii.
What Am I Doing?
The players in tills gaum seat, them
selves iu a row and tho leader of thn
game takes his place behind them, be
ginning at tho top of the row. Ilo
makes ronn1 absurd gesture and then
asks the person behind whom ho Is
standing: "What am I dolus?" If tho
players replies Incorrectly, and ho
generally does, he Is doomed to stand
iiji and Imitate iu silence tho w'sture
he could not guess, until he. has leave
to sit down.
TTih development of train nervtco Is
often not f;illy realized until our at
tention Is called to tho number of
trains running between our chief
towns. Taking tho summer time
table of 1 DOS, for example, there were
22 down and 29 up trains between
London and (ilaagow; between Lon
don nml F.rilnhurgh there were 30
down nnd "S up; while between the
metropolis and Leeds there were 4(1
down and ,0 up, nnd between London
and .Manchester no less than liS down
ami ."3 up, that Is, on an average, a
li-mlnuto service. It must be homo
In mind, how ever, that different routes
are taken by many of these trains and
consequently different towns are con
J'octod up by trains running between
tho same points.
Although comfort nnd frequency of
service arc two important features In
railway improvements, tho Increase
In speed and In tho number of long
non-stop runs daily being performed
on many of our main linos emphasizes
perhaps more than anything else tho
high degree of oflleiency our railways
have attained. Hurlng the par.t sum
mer the timo tables of our chief lines
fhowed n total of over l.V) runs of
more than 100 miles without n stop.
Of these the fastest running Is done
by two expresses on tho (Ireat West
ern railway, which cover tho HSi
miles between l'addlngton nnd Ilrlstol
In two hours, giving a start to stop
average speed of r.9.8 miles per hour.
Next to those comes a run on tho
Croat Northern railway from Crant
ham to King's Cross, 10r.'4 miles, nt
an average speed of 57.7 miles per
hour.
To maintain such high speeds for
so many miles demonstrates what vast
Improvements have taken place In the
steam locomotive, fur In 1870 the quick
est average speed in this country was
only 41! miles per hour. It Is only by
tho aid of water-troughs that these
long non-ston runs can bo made; the
troughs, which are about &00 yards in
length, are placed between the rails
nnd are automatically kept full. Water
can thus bo picked up whilo running
by a scoop under tho tender, which Is
lowered Into the trough by the engine
men, tho speed of the train forcing
tho water up he scoop Into tho ten
der tank.
In the 'development of train work
ing nothing has played a 'bioro Impor
tant part than the locomotive, for. as
the traffic and the demand fur rapid
transit have Increased, so has the lo
comotive been brought up to the nec
essary Btato of efficiency, not only as
regards speed, but In economical
working, without which It would have
boon an Impossibility to give the pub
lie what they desired. The modern
locomotive Is an evolutionary product,
nnd although the main principles re
main much the game as In the early
engine, it would he hard for tho lay
mau to recognize any of the old In
tho new. Tho Invention of the loco
motive Is nowadays absolutely Indis
pensable to our dally existence. In
Its earliest days It has been likened
Iu appearance to a medieval engine of
war and was originally used only on
ooIil'Vy lines because It could pull a
few more t nicks than could a horse.
The Idea of speed never seemed to
enter Into ths minds of its promoters,
and at the opening of the Stockton
and Darlington railway In 182.", when
the locomotive made Its first appear
ance In tho interests of the public,
considerable surprise was caused by
the sieed It attained of some 12 miles
per hour. It Is recorded that the
horseman who preceded It with n flag
hud promptly to clear out of the way,
to the wonder of the assembled crowd.
At first It met with a considerable
amount of opposition nnd many
strange objections were taken to It;
but ns soon as It began to bo recog
nized what commercial prosperity was
wrapped up In i's development all
these ohjcftious disappeared. It was
not, however, until tho famous loco
motive contest at. ItalnhiU In 1SL") that
tho hitherto doubtful question of Its
practical success was settled once and
for all. On that occasion the Itocket,
dt signed by Stephenson, astonished
the spectators by running .V. miles In
one hour 4a minutes and attaining a
speed of nearly 30 miles per hour
p'llllng a load of 13 tons.
This historic engine weighed 111
working order 41; tons and was enr
rled on four wlculs; Its Unikr fully
';rrs
loaded weighed 3!i tons. The driving
wheels, which wero the foremost of
the pair, were four feet 8Vi inches In
diameter, ami the cylinders, placed
outsldo on the sides of the firebox,
were eight InchoB In diameter with a;
stroke of Ifi'i Inches. Hut the chief
fcaturo which, undoubtedly contrib
uted nioro than anything elso to the
success of this crude-looking innchlne
was tho tubular boiler with which It
was litted. These tubes greatly In
creased tho evaporating power of the
boiler and enab)cd the engine to run
nt higher speeds without getting short
of steam. The Rocket is now to be
seen In tho South Kensington rnu-
scum, having, however, undergone
several alterations from lis original
state. Somo idea of the bIzc cf this
engine compared wlih one of our
modern plants can bo obtained when
wo find that the tolal weight of the
Rocket was not half as much as Is
carried on one of the driving wheel:
of tho Great Hour.
Tho natural outcome of Stephen
son's success was the appearance of
ninny other engines of various de
signs nnd embodying somo irp.r
ideus. As, however, the railways bo
gan to Fpread over tho country and
the great trunk lines to bo formed, so
the work of the loromotlvo grew heav
ier and development becamo essential
to cope with the Increasing traffic and
to meet tho demand for faster trains.
Tho Litest development of locomo
tive building on our railways is
shown in tho Illustration of the Great
Hear. This engine, which was con
structed last year at tho Swindon
works of tho Groat Western railway
to tho designs of Mr. 0. J. Church
ward. Is the biggest running In the
kingdom. It weighs In working order
S7 tons, and with its tender 14.'' tons;
It has four cylinders, all lf Inches by
M Inches, and driving wheels six feet
eight Inches in diameter. On nccount
of the great size of Its holler It Is
carried on 12 wheels, so that the ex
tra weight Is spread out over a longer
wheel-base and tho strains on tho per
manent way and bridges are rot In
creased. When e compare this mon
ster with its predecessors of 70 or
SO yours ago some Idea of the vast
change nnd development that has
taken place In the steam locomotive
can bo realized. The Iron horso has
indeed revolutionized the social and
commercial life of the world and in
Its present form represents perhaps
the greatest of the many triumphs of
steam. J. It. Bazln.
Church as Smugglers' Cave. i
Owing to the presence of the fleet
In the Thames, Canvey Island has had
a great Influx of good class visitors.
Kverybody vIsitB the one little church
with Its many stained glass windows,
which Is famous for some amazing
smuggling exploits.
The present vicar, the Her. Watson
linger, M. A., relates how within the
last half century, before he was ap
pointed, the church was served from
tho mainland village of Henfleet. The
bishop of the diocese had arranged
for 26 services to be conducted during
i ho year, Intending of course that
they should be held fortnightly.
Instead, however, they were held
consecutively, so for six months of
iho year the church was never opened.
Taking advantage of this extraordin
ary state of things a band of smug
glers used the building as a very safe
hiding place for storing kegs of ruin,
bales of tobacco, laces and other con
traband goods.
Some of these daring smugglers aro
still living on the Island - London M.
A. P.
New Idea for Long Ll,.
A novel method oi attaininr longevi
ty was practiced by Mrs. Yetta Schul
man, who died recently In New York
: at the advanced ago of 10a years. Mrs.
Schiilnian paid no particular attention
to points of diet, exercise, sleep, etc.,
which usually figure hugely In rules
laid down for those growing old. Sho
believed that the lives of aged per
sons could be prolonged It they asso
ciated constantly or nearly so with
young people, and she apparently veri
fied her theory, for she spent the
greater part of her time In company
with children, even taking part in
their iports with lively Interest.
Leslie's Vekly.