THE ILLUSTRATED It EE.
Modern Inventions
To Aid Sick Folk
November 18, 11)00.
Of all the niltulrnblo comforts ami con
veniences evolved In this day of progress
fur the speclnl bcnelll of Invnllds, nothing
quite equals the pivoted bed that enables
even tho most handicapped Individual to lie
flat on his or her back ami enjoy all the
effect of n change of position. This new
Invention Is Just nn ordinary, llghtly-bullt
metal bed with a springy wire mattress
that, by a touch of the nurse's hand, can
be raised or lowered, tipped this way or
that, giving the Invalid prisoner all the
delightful sense of movement and change
without renlly altering the position In tlu
least.
This is a blessing to persons with broken
limbs and Injured backs, who are booked
for nn over-long holiday In bed and wh,
dare not move as they hope to grow well
and strong. This delightful bed Is lilted
with special springs and castors so artfully
adjusted that It can bu pushed abi.ut t
room without ever so slightly Jarring the
occupant, nnd yet affording a constant
variety In location. liven the relief of
occupying different rooms from time tu
time Is now possible, a relief which means
so much In cheerfulness and strength to
sick folks who have to endure a long siege
of invalidism. While the pivoted bed has
been made especially for those who are
forced to a prolonged rest on their backs,
there have been mauy Improvements put
forth lately In behalf of tho Invalid, who
need suffer no such test of endurance nnd
patience, but can sit up n little, for meals
CoiufortN for I lie lli-ilrlililfii.
The old method In giving a patient nn
erect position in bed was the liberal use of
pillows to form a back-test, elso n hard
board, with an easel Btipport, was placed
behind the sick person, a pillow put on this
and the body was propped Into Just the
posturo that threw all tho strain on the base
of tho spine. Now an excellent appliance
has been brought out that does away with
pillows entirely. Tho new back-rest, for
me In bed, is cushioned, built high enough
to alford a head supporter, has tufted
projecting ears, like the cosy granny chair,
to cut otf any draughts, and well cushioned
arms extend on both sides to glvo tho
patient comfort for her elbows. Hotter
still, this back-rest Is so arranged that tho
Invalid can sit or partially recline at an.r
anglo and govern the position herself by
merely working a small lever at ono aide,
which throws tho broad supporting board
backwards or forwards as the need may be.
These details in mechanism may not seem
Important to the strong and sturdy, but they
mean everything in the comfort of a sick
perton, who will also (hid the greatest con
tentment In the use of the four-legged
smartly ornamented meal tray that is now
perfected for Invalid use. There have been
menl trays in use before this time, but none
so cleverly provided with conveniences nor
so cheerfully and artistically ornamented
ns thoso now purchasable. Ueally charming
ones are made of mahogany Inlaid with
lighter woods In Chippendale patterns,
others are treated with decoration done with
hot irons nnd the design then colored, and
excellent ones there are for use both as
meal trays, card, chess, backgammon and
chicker boards.
Exceedingly pretty dinner stands are now
being made of wicker, stained green, brown
or o cheerful cherry red with pockets at tho
corners and along tho sides Into which tho
salt, pepper boxes, etc., will lit and prevent
that Irritating restlessness with which ln
anlmnto objects are sometimes possessed.
For tho bed-ridden Invalid, who creeps out
to tho comparative freedom of sofa Ufo,
there aro possibilities of great relief In
tho new tufted spring couch, the long seat
and headrest of which Is artfully hinged to
admit of many changes in the slek person's
position. It can ho adjusted to support a
weak back, to raise or lower tho head and
the vholo cushioned top of tho sofa can bo
also liftcti off to slip Into a wheeled spinal
chair that tho patient occupies whilo
stt etched nt full length.
I'VcnIi Air lor IiiiiIIiIn,
Excellent as these contrivances are thoy
pale, however, almost Into Inslgnlllcanco
beside tho value and vlrtuo of tho Invalid's
motor cnrrlage. These wero (list built In
England, hut are now being made In this
country. Tho carriage Itself is built very
nearly on the lines of nn ample easy hath
chair, or yet more nearly on tho model of
an exceeding small low-swung phaeton.
There Is a hood to pull up protectlngly
abovo and about tho Invalid chauffeur, a
largo wool apron draws tip and buttons
smoothly over tho knees nnd the motlvo
powor nnd steering gear aro stored for
ward under tho gracefully curving dash
board. Enough gas or olectrlc power can be stored
In ono of these little carriages to last for
ten or twelvo miles, nnd what with specially
tompered springs, rubber tires nnd care
fully considered cushions the occupant of
such a vehicle is free to come and go at
will about a garden or park roads without
the least Jolting or discomfort from tho
weather.
Women as "Signal Men"
Whon tho suburban, through nnd freight
trains which run out of tho Union stntlon,
Chicago, on tho Chicago, llurllngton &
(Julncy railway ny past cortaln of tho
Ytcl towers of "signal blocks" scattered
along tho way tho lovers controlling thu
somnphores which direct tho train engi
neers how to proceed nro oporatod by
women. Miss Angle II. (laities is the day
and .Miss 'leresa urew the inglit operator
at Uorwyn, 111., with Miss uzlo Allen
as alternate, or "exliu." .Miss Alice Fur
nlss is "block operator" at lirossd.tle, bolng
on duty at nlgnt. .Miss lleuu .MeKtrhati
looks ufter the telegrapn key and tho sig
nals at Western Springs, and .Miss Adelo
Wuiv. keeps guard at the "X" block, which
Is near Aurora.
'1 he "block operator," whether man or
woman, must be, abose all, ati expert tele
graph operator. Then a rather severe and
searching medical examination must be un
dergone before the new applicant for rail
way employment is uliowed to "post up'
f. r the "extra list." Women are emploed
b the railroad whenever this seems feasi
hie, because the salaries they command arc
a little smaller than those paid to men for
the some services. 'Ihe new operator al
was begins with night dtuy, the day Jobs,
as most desirable, lulling by right to the
older employes. Each of the young women
mentioned has passed many a long night
In the lonely signal box, nigh abovo the
tracks and the world of sleeping men and
women. None will admit having been nt
all scared, nervous, or timid when In that
situation. Although each girl operator
works twelve hours a day and seven days
In the week the year round, with the ex
eeptlon of a two weeks' vacation, the block
operators like their work. There Is llttlu
to fear, they contend, since they can and do
lock themselves safely In their towers ai
will, and there are many advantages. Above
nil, they are, In a great degree, their own
superintendents, nnd there Is no ono nt
hand to "boss."
"Wo are alono nnd comparatively Inde
pendent lu our own little olllces," says Miss
Catnes, who has been a "block operator"
for over eight years, "thus being able to
llnd a great many spare moments for read
ing, writing and even fancy work. We ulso
have the opportunity of making our sur
roundings as neat and homelike us wo
please."
There aro musical Instruments nnd piles
of inutile In soverul of the "block towers"
over which girl operators reign; growing
plants Uourlsh lu the windows of nearly all.
The girl operators, in thu intervals of keep
ing a record of all trains passing in either
direction, watching and changing the
signals, making notes of the numbers of nil
engines, "clearing" their particular section
of track and performing all the other light
but important nnd multifarious duties which
fall to their share, take great pride In keep
ing their quarters neat.
Tho Northwestern railroad at ono time
employed women In a similar capacity, but
thu six women on the Aurora branch of the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railway aro
the only ones now doing this work in or
about Chicago.
Boston's Busiest Woman
Boston has among Its citizens the busiest
woman in this country, if her wealth and
freedom from the necessity of doing the
work in which she takes so much satisfac
tion be considered. She Is worth a quarter
of u million of dollars and made the money
recognizing tho direction that business lu
a certain part of the city was going to take.
Lloylstou street was a residential thor
oughfare when she first became acquainted
with it. After a while the Idea took pos
session of her that business was coming in
that direction. She had acquired money
enough to become tho owner of a house and
she decided to convert it Into a shop. She
went to see the carpenters and bulldeis
and bought every piece of woodwork and
glass that was required in making the
change from an old-fasbloued homo to n
new-fashioned shop. She Inspected the
work as it proceeded nnd paid olf thu men
every Saturday night as they hied through
her kitchen.
When this undertaking had turned out
according to her wishes after some delay
and trying waiting, she got another house
and had that turned Into smart shops with
plato gliiBa windows and every other feature
to attract the merchant who wanted thu
best quurters nnd could afford to pay for
them. She got a long lease on a third
house ufter a while and altered that Just
us she had thu others, paying thu same
closu attention to tho practical side of thu
work.
When all these changes woru inado she
did not hire a Janitor to look ufter her
buildings, nor did sho hand over tho man
iigeiuent of them to a firm of real estate
dealers. She remained In charge so prac
tically that to this day nobody can control
them but herself. Sho scrubs thu stairways
herself, she washes tho windows nnd shu
has carried the bricks from tho wagon to
tho sidewalk they were to repair. She
lives In nn unoccupied basement of one of
tho houses nnd through her kitchen and
dining room passes everybody who comes
to tho upper rooms of the house, through
tho basement.
Every detail of the management of tho
property comes under her personal control
Sho began to take this close personal
charge of her property when her llrst hoiiHo
was ultered Into a business building nnd
economy was at llrst her object. Later
sho continued thu work lu the same way
because sho found It Interesting, and now
that her property Is valued at nearly a
quarter of a million of dollars, chlelly ns n
result of this Industry, Bhu llnds nothing
BLOUSE JACKET OK Fl'Il.
rWKKIAdU AND UN UN I Ml NVUA1
extruordlnary In tho fact that she should
continue to work so hard.
There is no trace of thu miser in her con
duct and there aro ninny instances of her
generosity, which Is especially likely to
show Itself toward her own sex. So there
is no question of her parsimony, in spite,
of the wny lu which she lives. Sometimes
her generosity to women In business has
proved an expense to her, although she Is
proud of the fact that slnco the day she
llrst went Into the real estate business no
body hns lost a cent through her.
Southern Ventures
The perusal of the following lines will
furnish information to thoso persons lu
Venezuela who smile when American cap
ital nnd interprises uro spoken of, says tho
Venezuelan Herald. Let them then know
that the Mcnlteur Olllelel du Commerce
Francals says that of the l.'l.noi) kilometers
of railroad 11,11)0 are American; that of the
1,1)30 mines lu exploitation, J..100 aro worked
with capital of the same nation; that of
the n.UOO employes of tho American rail
roads, only 1,0110 aro tho sons of Undo Sam,
and the others are natives of the country;
that one bank in every three Is American;
that the commerce, which used to bo
monopolized by the French, Spanish nnd
Hermans, Is now being fought for by tho
Amerlcnis. The following art- tho words of
.M. Slgnoret, councilor of the French board
of foreign trade:
"French, English, (Jermans and Amer
icans, we shall all llnd ourselves competing
harder than ever.
"Wo have on our side past successes, ac
quired strength; the (Ioniums, and espe
cially the English, have at their disposal
enormous capital and gteat audacity. As
to the Americans, in addition to these ele
ments, they have In their fuvor the prox
imity of their country live days the fai II
Itlcs ottered by their low taiilf, their enter
prising spirt and the resources which the
commercial anil Industrial American peo
ple shower on their pioneers abroad. They
have also another enormous advantage,
namely, that In the United States Mexican
business Is sought for; this they under
stand, quickly Investigate and execute, lu
Franeu months, and sometimes years,
elapse before a hearing or Investigation can
bu obtained for a Mexican affair.
"In n word, Mexico has been made known
and developed by the Americans, who,
thanks to their 11,100 kilometers of rail
road, have enabled tho wealth of the coun
try to ho exploited. The day (ienoral l'or
lliio Diaz and his minister, I'achoco, gave
them 120 concessions, of which only 107
have seen thu light, ho served his country,
for he encouraged a practical people, who
lmvo oowed tho laud freely with gold.
What I'orlltio Diaz did fur the Americans
hu has tried to do on many occasions for
tho French, but thoy have turned u deaf
ear to him and have preferred tho Trans
vaal, hut they have time yet to show a
little Initiative."
Coming from a Frenchman, clothed with
an olllcial character, these words slu.uld
cause relleetlon lu certain government of
llcers who believe that up to tho present
time tho United States have not gone i.tit
of themselves nor Invested their capital
abroad. May these lines reproduced lu the
Interests of their country not allow them
to remain any longer lu Ignorance.
Living Fashion Models
Illouso Jackets of fur will bo a distinguish
ing feature of this winter's wraps. Tho
ono pictured Is of superb chinchilla, with n
gray erepo do chine sash and satin ribbon
J '
HOUTIOULTUUE HUILD1NO AT I'ANAME ItK'AN EXPOSITION, BUFFALO.
to match run through big silk rings that
eniiliio both wrists and neck.
A fccnslblo and handsome carriage and
evening wrap of long-haired brown fur, cut
after the newest cape pattern and lined
wltli yellow biocaile, Is shown lu the ac
companying plctuiu.
Kode in a Freight Car
'the crew oi a lust trcitiu irain on the
l.uulgli Wllle) laaiu.nl, lumiUa uio 1'Ullu
ucipiiia Lcugir, luuiiu a uung woman on
lop oi a box car a buou uibiuiicu weal ot
1 ailellbuig, N. J. luu wouiuii wio UU.tDlu
to see, iiawng been blliiucU by clinic I a inul
hew liuiu lliu math, el ttiu lucouiomu uruw
mg me num. Cio in lieu uosu lu thu tup
oi lite eai, bhu wuj clinging tu Uiu loui
Liu.iru. bhu was taken to uiu lucuniunvo ana
bluugiu to habtou. When Mie icawnu tuai
city Duleclivo .Miller, an oiutei in lue cm
ploy ol the rninoau Lua.ii.uij, pi.ti.cil ine
i.oman under an cm, on the ciiaigu ui illegal
i tiling.
r.xcued Hum her luniuiu expoiitncu on
iliu laal-iuu mg Hum, the piibuiitr wub
uiuugiit tu be ucuiciiicd. n was mainly on
Hua account that bhu wus taken tu the
lockup. At the btailuu huubo, alier bhu hud
in. en pel muted to real aim witbh tuu dirt
u uiu her lace and eyes, mo young woman
guu an account ot lur trip.
Sho buid her hoiiiu was near Aliuiiluwu and
that her name was .Maine aieol. shu Had
been to New Vurk ami nud Hied ot thu big
eiiy. Longing to gci b.icu home and uol
luiMiig uiunuy to pay Iter laic, shu decided
lu steal u ride uu u tieiglu train, as shu hud
ulteii read ot men and boys uulug. Walking
to Newark, bhu climbed on a Height cur.
bhu lialely hud time to tie her hat last to
iho bhort baeque she woiu when thu train
began tu iuou. lu a moment or two more
it wus traveling al a high rate ot speed.
'1 hu wind chilled her and nearly swept hur
liuiu her perch, but shu clung tu lliu tuot
board. Alter having learned the story tho rall
load ulllclals withdrew thu ehurgu ugulust
hur and shu received n ticket to her home.
White House is Rickety
"In thu plan for building ti new housu for
tho president elsewhere Until on thu pres
ent situ It has boon proposed to utilize the
present munslun for olllces," writes Colonel
Theodiie A. lllnghain, U. S. A., in the
Ladles' Homo Journal. "One plea therefor
has been that the historic building should
bo left as It Is. Tills is certainly to bo In
sisted on. Hut It Is said the mansion Is too
pure a piece of architecture to ho marred
by additions. This, however, Is a specious
argument, since tho original design con
templated side additions, and If the build
ing lu Its present state wero used as olllces
It would bo wrecked lu live or six years.
Thoso who have no experience with public
buildings or with this building lu particular
have no conception of tho wear and tear on
a prifiidenfs oillco. It surpasses that on
any other oillco In tho country. The pres
ent executive mansion was lightly built,
and Is already expensive to keep lu proper
repair. Jts iluor bcums uro not strong
enough to endure oillco uso. Ureal dllll
inlty has arisen In thu past with the fow
rooms now used as the president's execu
tive ollkts, and great watchfulness has to
be constantly exercised. Several times tilt
doors have threatened to break through.
The stairs have already br ken down, ne
lllght being now supported by a chain.
Still, to remodel for oillco use only, tho
whole Interior of our historic executive
mansion would be not only a very expen
sive matter, but would fall to meet the re
qilireuiinls of the case, and also, It Is be
lieved, the approval of tho country ut
large."