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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1920-5-20, Page 2CROSBY'S KIDS Safety First. Strictly speaking, there can be said *o be no such thing as an accident. Carelessness is the cause or nearly every automobile mishap or fatality. A man may be careful enough in other things yet a most reckless man when he gets behind the wheel of his own car. The desire to avail himself of the speed of the engine ho is operat- ing or the wish to save time may be the cause of a serious misadventure. "To save time Is to lengthen life" le • a lend business slogan, but it doesn't alta lye apply in the operation of motor cars. Right now is the time for Mr, Ererymotorist to agree with himself Pate he will subscribe to a rode of ac- tion that will make the highways safe for all. It is imperative that some- tltiree Le done to offeet the determined reeireseness of all too many of the crewels of automobile operators on the aoade. Here are some Sugg« ,.tions for artier. tehieh, :tl 1 t n •h not complete, at least t tiseevc es a guile,: Nero- thee a chance. AIeety:- remember that the other fellow may take a thane. Go crtti u-ly at reilt•0ad crossings.. Net ea ,-_ '.Lent are properly protect- ed. .:o cera: to .ty co save a minute yr tea. ate', :a be ! o,iecte.a into etern- ity. Be.! ever ,pard approaching a i>'rtnd torr, or a bend in the roe.'.. Some driven ha•. -e the •bad habit of driving is tee left un curves. Traffic- rules are made to help, not ti• ''.indee leceete8t chant ft11' -me owe e:!t aa1t ami sefeie. Slew greet l toaters. Lion's ler your ese get out of etett•ol left. ret: let, .,',_ hemilighte and ar: to 1t that the. actua,i*.• ,U•,,eeplish 'their purpose. teary non -skin chairs and use teem we tee road surfaces are wet or geeaer. If thet• do no other service ,they can be used fee towing if you break down or intern._e i; you get into et diirll or madhote. • Drive a= it yo.] hadn't a warning signal ea epee ser. That netmee have the antemobile always under control, Soeeii `s e:pensee It wea.'s out tires and rues load:. Dan', drive too fast. Ile' e ie a tine summing up. written by an old e motorist: "Whenever you are in doubt as to whether to follow the safe way or the uncertain way, take by all means the safe way. Try to keep out the element of chance all you can." Hints for Motorists. Leaking Floats --An excellent way to locate suspected leaks in the car bureter float is to immerse the part in hot water. In this way any gas- oline in the interior will be vaporized and will force its way out of the hole, which may be located by watch- ing for the bubbles to rise. The float should, of course, be removed from the water the instant the bubbles cease arising. Missing Cylinder—Many times a troublesome skip in a cylinder is due to an unsuspected leak in high ten- sion wire. When hunting for such trouble go over the wires carefully, raising them slightly from any place where there might be a leak. When round the place must be covered with tape or a new wire installed, Overeoming Weak Starting—When the starting motor for any reason lacks power to turn over the crank- shaft it may be strengthened by coupling on another storage battery, connecting it in multiple so as not to increase the voltage. If the con- ducting wires are of sufficient size from the battery to the motor there will be a considerable gain in power output. Repairing Gas Line --Gasoline lines sometimes leak because of chafing against the edge of frame channels or other parts. An easy way to rem- edy this is by wrapping soft wire tightly about the tubing, winding .it for a small distance each side of the leak and then going over the wire with solder. This will make an effec- tive and permanent repair and will also prevent chafing at that particular point. herosene Removes Valve Stem Car- bon.—A very simple way of cleaning valve stems which have carbon de- posits is to inject a little kerosene in the air valve of a earbureter while the engine is running. In this way a little of the kerosene finds its way down the valve stens and softens and washes off the carbon. It is an ex- cellent idea to do this at least once a month, Indians Used Firefly Lantern. Ia Cube and other islands of the Caribbean region there Is a species of llr:tay :,o llrilliaut?y luminous that pre-Colttunbiee Indians used them for iantern-light_,, impraenfng them for the peree e in perforated gourds. Cuban negroes stili utilize them in kite eamo w.y-, confining a few of the lasects in an ordinary glass lantern, which may be conveniently hung up in the init or tarried about on dark night:. The ladiaus of the Antile,, long ago, made another use of the firefly lan- terns. employing them for signaling. One great adveni:age they had was 'Mat their fight could not be blown out by wind or put ont by rain; and, with a se*'t of moriie :ode, the photo -tele - gamily w•ae au exceedingly efficient would be. means of sending messages or distribu- ting warnings of danger far and wide. On occasions of nocturnal outdoor festivity iu Cuba it is a common thing for ladies to adorn their gowns with these brilliant fireflys, which glow more brightly than any gems. The eggs laid by the insects are luminous, the firefly's light being thus handed down without extinguishment from generation to generation, each one passing the torch along. as it were, to the next. One Point of Agreement, -How unworthy I am of you, dear," he murmured as he held her close. "Oh, Fred," she sighed, "If you and father only agreed on everything the way you do on that, how happy we Marvels of Brit air's Railways • .0;. ftufl hes reeprn tc of proud of hie atit ways. Teey stretch their shining tentacles to alt corners of hie kingdom to an ag- gregate length of 23,799 miles. So long, indeed, is his iron road that he mead fashion from it a dozen lines, each long enough to link London with Constarcluople; or he could, with equal ease. construct sixty distinct Mee from London to Edinburgh. It you would purchase John Bull's railways you would have to write a cheque (taking the sharp capital at tzar) for $6,760,670,000—a sum mare than twice as great as Britain's Na. tional Debt Just before the war, and representing nearly 2s. In every pound of her national wealth to -day. If the cost were distributed among the Depu- tation of the British Isles, every man, Woman and child would have to con- tribute $145 --less than the value of a single yard of line. Every year on these thousands of miles of British railways the passen- gers are almost as many as all the people now living on the earth; and they represent thirty journeys by every man, woman, and child in the United Kingdom. 1f We form one year's passengers in procession—single file, at intervals of a yard—the procession of travellers will be so long that it would make three links between the earth and the moon, with a remnant long enough to girdle the earth four times. Arrang. Ing them thirty-three abreast, with a yard between' successive ranks, one year's passengers would stretch round the earth; and if they were to pass in review before a given point at the rate of four miles an hour, we should have to wait thirty-seven weeks before the rear ranks came in view. If they could take their tickets at the rate of twenty every minute, night and day, the unfortunate last man would have to wait until the year 2058 before he, could hope to take Itis seat. How WILL le BELT Wttm ti .Los-rT'tic GAME Singing Sands. An interesting attempt is made by a writer In, "Science" to explain the singing sands of Lake Michigan. These extend along its eastern shore from Gary, at the southera extremity, to Mackinac, at the northern, with com- paratively few breaks or interrup- tions. Throughout this, region the sands near the water's edge, in dry weather, emit a peculiar but definite and unmistakable sound when the foot of the pedestrian pushes through them in an abrafsive way. This un- usual sound is produced not only by the leather -shod foot, bat is emitted also if the bare foot or hand 1s stuck through the grains or if a stick is trailed, boy -fashion, behind. Thoreau, in "The Journal," said it was like the sound made by rubbing wet glass with your finger or by wax- ing a table. It was a squeaking sound, as of one particle rubbing against an- other, "My hypothesis, briefly stated, le Chis," says a writer in "Sabena" The sand grains on the lower beach and as far as the upper limit of tha_storm beach are bathed periodically by the waters of the lake, which contain vari- ous salts, including calcium and mag- nesium bicarbonates. This water dries on the grains of sand, coating the sur- faces with an extremely thin film of salts, including calcium and magnes- ium carbonates. This film is of such a nature as to create considerable fric- tion when rubbed, and thus when the grains are brought iuto contact with various surfaces a sound is emitted. One may compare the action of the film of dried salts on the sand grains with the action of rosin on the violin bow. "The beach sand is, of course, the same sand which later goes to form the dunes when transported by the wind, but during this transportation, due to the abrasive action of grain against grain, much of the salt film is rubbed off and carried on by the wind in the same manner that oley dust is, to be deposited in quiet places, as on the forest floor beyond. After deposition in blowouts• or on. dunes, the grains are subjected from time to time to the bleaching action of rain water, and this completes the removal of calcium and magnesium carbonates (in. the form of bicarbonates and of the other salts) se that the original sand grain surface is restored, or, to speak metaphorically, the sands lose their singing voice. Such is the hy- pothesis." His Not to Reason Why. A. dear old gentleman noticed a la- borer walking along a railway train and diligently tapping the wheels, Having nothing better to do, the old gentleman approached and asked: "How many years have you been working for this railway, my man?" "Thirty-eight, eir," replied the labor- er, still continuing his work. "I suppose you have had many varied experiences in your time— plenty of change of occupation, I ex- pect?" "No, air, I've always 'ad this same job. I've tapped the wheels of trains for eight -and -thirty years, air." "A long time, my man, a very long time, end, if 1 may say so, it shows a steady character. And by the way— what is the reason for tapping the wheels? Why do you do it?" The man stood up, scratched his head and said: "I'm darned if I know." A special cupboard for hanging saucepans is a great dust saver. Marl/cis of 192Q Aerial Progress This year is decant d to stand out vividly In history a;4 the beginning elf the era of mammoth :thcraft. Before It prices we eliall have se= (111111- utade ]tutchlae-birds soaring through the air carrying thirty tone at 120 utiles an hour in nonstop flights of twenty hours, We shall, in all probability, see this year the construction of gigantic ah'- shipe capable of carrying between 100 and 200 passengers in non-stop flights acrose the Atlantic. Otte such ship has already been designed by Henri Julliott, the veteran French airship engineer, So far as heavier-than-air machines are concerned, the remarkable thing is that it will not be merely one type, but several, that will fly successfully with 100 passengers this year. Gianni Capron!, one of tete pioneers of the giant airplane, gives details of his giant triplane that has just been completed in Italy. This huge machine made its initial test flight a month ago, and it can easily carry 100 passengers. This monster of the air itself weighs twelve tons and can lift another twelve' tons. It is powered with eight Liberty meters, giving it an aggregate horsepower of 8,200, Apart from its tremendous dimen- sions, the new Caproni airplane is re- markable in its construction. It is apparently the first successful "tan- dem machine," It is. equipped with three sets of wings, not merely above each other, but placed tandem fashion• Each of these set of wings is placed at a definite distance behind the pre- ceding set. In such an arrangement the maxi- mum lifting capacity is obtained and lateral stability greatly improved. Moreover, it is not necessary to equip the remarkable airplane with the usual tail surfaces, as the tandem wings take over the functions of the tail. Gigantic Flying Boat. Out of England there comes news of a flying boat of such proportions that it staggers the imagination. Its boat body will be equipped as luxu- riously as any transatlantic steamer. In the same country two mammoth land airplanes are being constructed, each capable of carrying 100 passen- gees in extended flight at high speed. Germany has just completed the most amazing airplane over conceived by man. It is a giant monoplane con- structed entirely of metal and is the largest of its type in the world, Built primarily for war purposes, it has none of the, characteristics of the newer commercial machines, although . 1t alaltic in every respect from any otter aircraft. It is shortly to be turn. ed over to the Allies under the terms of the cn•mietice. 13111 to return to the mammoth flying boat noir being built 111 Burrow, in England, by Messrs. Vickers, Ltd., de- signers of the fa pens Vickers•Vimy bomber, which made the !Met non -:+tap flight across the Atlantic Ocean and the flr4t flight from England to Aus- tralia. It Is a biplane, and when com- pleted its wings will nattenrc 300 feet from tip to tip, C'omplu'e this with the 'United States navy's famous NC air- planee, the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic., whose wings were 120 feet acl'041. Moreover, the wings of the now Vickers monster will bo 27 feet wide, wider than some of the new sporting airplane wings are long. Tho other dimensions of this mtun- lnoth flying craft are equally astound- ing, It will be, driven through the air by eight engines, aggregating 4,800 horsepower. There are hundreds of oceangoing ships with less power than this, and when we further coaelder the fact that man has flown in an airplane equipped with a 9 -horsepower meter, the figures given above assume their ' real importance. The engines aro Rolls-Foyce "Con - dare," the new 600'horsepower engine recently produced by the famous Bri- tislt concern. They are placed an the flying boat in pairs, one pair in each of the four engine nacelles. In this manner each pair is installed "end to end," therefore each engine nacelle has a tractor and a pusher propellor. • The giant flying boat is 200 feet long and 42 feet high, or, in other words, the hull is equal in length to a city block. The framework of the boat and of the planes themselves is constructed entirely of duralumin—at alloy as light as aluminum, but much stronger. The planking of the hull is made of "Consuta," a special form of plywood developed by the famous yacht builders, Messrs. Saunders, Ready to Bomb Berlin. The boat itself Inas two decks and is completely furnished for passenger carrying. he it there are built sixteen two -berth cabins and a dining -room. The settees in the latter can, in case 'of emergency, be transformed to Pro- vide sleeping accommodation for thir- teen more passengers, thus bringing the total of passengers to forty-five. With that number the huge flying boat has a cruising radius in the alr of 1,400 statute miles at a. maximum fly- ing speed of 110 miles an hour. It is estimated, however, that the giant ma- chine will be able to awry its full load In the. air with tw•a•tltlyd4 of its engine power. One of the must interesting of the new large pueeetut ] ,':rrt'ying air. 'Melee is the Bristol. flattener triplane, equipped with +'nun• .11tn riratt-bu111 i,iUerty nultnr:-, the littera t la this machine Iles 14 the fact lint 1t was the very machine deeigr";1 t=pe:Italy for the Pritish Air aliui,try to Inenb Ber- lin arca the 1Vestein Front. lemma has just pradueed all out- standing giant machine in the Bleriot four -unglued tractor biplane. The novel feature itt this machine is the fact azul tile 14111' eugfltes are placed ht separate necollee built into the win€:4. cold each drives a tractor pro- pellor. '1'h1: arrangement should give greater engine eflielency in flying, as compared with the cud to end method of using engines. This big airplane le of the land type, but its fuselage is divided Into two decks. The upper deck carries seven- teen first-class passengers. The pilot's compartment, accentual datIng two pilots and an engineer, is also placed on this deal:. The lower deck coutaine a navigat- ing tooln and a wireless cabin, The farmer contains all the navigating fu- strumellts and has a window in the floor to permit unrestricted vision of the ground below. Ilehind this wire- less cabin there Is a small hold for baggage, and back of that a c0mpart- ' meat for four second -clues passengers. It is the first airplane designed for commercial work to carry different classes of peasengers. A Commercial Success. The largest Americaa airplane at present is the Lawson Airliner, which has. a capacity for twenty-six passen- gers in an inclosed cabin. This air- plane, however, while not approaching in size some of the new European de- velopments., ie by far the simplest all around efficient "Ship" yet produced for commercial Purposes. It has de- monstrated its utility by successfully flying from Milwaukee to New York and return over unorganized territory. The largest semi-rigid ever built has a capacity of only one million cubic feet. This was built by the Italians, who have become premniuent in this field. The coming attempt of the Italian government .to cross the South Atlan- tic in an airship of this type is arous- ing a great deal of interest in this kind of aircraft. This big ship has just been completed and is expected to make its trials early in May, and to undertake the trip some time in Juuo. Most Isolated Farm in the World. Death Valley, in East California, the most horrible desert on the face of the earth, source of weird mysteries and innumerable tragedies—has yielded to the band of man to make a garden therein. Furnace Creek ranch, as the Death Valley farm is known, enjoys many distinctions. Its s0xt eftve acres of oultiveted land constitutes the most isolated farm in t'ho world, producing food in the midst of a desert inferno, where temperature and atmospheric pressure are almcet beyond the limits of plant and animal endurance. Obviously the introducion of an abundant water supply was• the prime requisite to make the reach possible. This is obtained from two large springs, far back in the Funeral Moun- tains, which pour their streams upon the burned-aut Death Valley soil through two great aqueducts, one of steel and one of masonry. White teen cannot live Long in the withering heat. Consequently all the work about the ranch is done by In- dfans of the Pluto and Shoshone tribes under the direction of an educated foreman. The average life of a white man in Death Valley is very short. Three white foremen employed on the ranch Tested two summers each, and perished during the third. Two others went insane, and attempted to flee out of the valley on foot. Neither of them lived to get out or the maze of Funeral Mountain canons, The present fore- man has survived seven summers, and is soon entering upon his eighth. He attributes his ability to resist the beat to his superb constitution, temperate habits, and hygenic living. He has at- tained a degree of comfort by con- structing a largo fart driven by water "REG'LAR FELLER S" -By Gene Byrnes Hes LOOKiN' RI6l11- fsT MEI •SercHA t- 5 WO t'l - lt-e \o4 1 4 NAM. Is OR. 5L*tPTHIM power. During; the hottest days of the summer he makes his bed in front of the tan after sprinkling the floor and wetting his blankets. For all work Is that done at night, when the temperature over the valley floor des- cends to about 120 degrees. In addition to being a sort of miracle farm, Furnace Creek much is also a traveller's relief station, serving the barren blazon wastes of Death Valley and the Funeral Mountain country much the sante es St. Bernard hospice does the high Alps of Switzerland. Its very existence has saved the life of many a lost traveller or prospector who staggered within its boundaries with parched throat and speechless, swollen tongue. Assistance under such circumstances is never refused. If the victim of the desert has money with which to pay for his rescue, well and good, it not, he receives 1t gratis. On a hill just back 03 the ranch are a number of mounds—the graves of thirst -tortured souls who tottered luno the ranch too late to be saved by water. Not An Extra Ration, One of the young doctor's first clients was a fat girl. Her fatness weighed upon her, and she wanted to gat rid of some of R. The young doc- tor oefor drew up a careful diet. She was to eat dry toast, plain boiled beef, etc„ and to return in a month to report re- duction, At the eucl of the month she camel hardly get through the doctor's door- way. He was aghast, "Did you eat what I told you?" lie asked. "Religiously." His brow wrinkled itself, Suddenly ho had au inspiration. "Anything else?" eta asked. "Only my ordinary meals," oN 1-c7O14.! H E s GOTTA 15RONSS RING Qt -1 HIS LEG! WONDER WHAT THAT'S FOR. Who Invented Movies? Although the first motion picture was made iu the summer of 1890, it had its real birth a century earlier when Plateau, a Frenchman, 00n- strueted an optical toy called the "Phenakfatiecope." The flrat serious attempt to secure a record of movement by photography was made in 1878 by Edward 11fuy- bridge. At this time wet plates of great rapidity were used, and by ar- ranging a series of cameras along the side of a race track, and having strings tied to the shutters which the horse 'mulct automatically operate by stepping on them while passing down the track, a series of clear photo- graphs were obtained. Positive prints wore developed, mounted, and projected on a screen. Only one movement was obtained by Muybridge, and to have taken photo- graphs of a trotting horse for one minute would have required 720 cameras.. The dry plate was intro- duced in the early 'eighties, and Muy- bridge's experiments were carried on more effectively. M1887 the idea cane to Edison that motion could be recorded by means of an instrument and then thrown upon a screen. It was readily seen that a camera wetted have to be perfected' that would take pictures at the rate of twenty to forty per second, and that ono camera only would have t0 be used. In the summer of 1889 the drat mo- tion -picture camera, was maria. In 1896 the first attempt was made to apply motion pictures to a magic lantern, and by that means throw them on the screen, Would you go farther than others? Then see farther along the path than they. Extraordinary Christian Names. The London baby who la fated to go through life under the martial label, "Douglas Haig Beatty Jellicoe French" may, at lellat, have whatever commie - Hon he eau derive tram the knowledge that, almost on the sante day, a brother baby 14•(4;4 christened at Lyons "CI verge Cif nlelleeau Jo17re Potaln Foch," utunes 110 lt'ss exalted to live up 1o. it le notvery many years since Ar- thur Wellesley Wellington Waterloo Cox was luta to rest after a lung Life spent in the peac•t'fnl environment of a ta110r'a shop, say,: an English writer, And to his last Robert Alia Balaclava lettermen Sehrtetopol Delhi 1)ugdele wielded no more deadly weapon than a yard•measuro. Judas 'nutria Ananias Culling lived and died 0 wearer, noted for truthful - netts and integrity, in spite of the 114111e0 he bore, And Noah Flood Jen- nings was no vendor of umbrellas or macintoshes, but alalia his livelihood by selling cooling drinks and harmless ice -creams. Savage Bear, Neg., who, according to the "Gentleman's Magazine," died in 1807, was a man famed for his courtesy and charity: And Saint Paul Goodaun was 50 little a saint that he ended his, days on the gallows, as Penalty for a singularly brutal murder. Horatio Nelson Meeking, who was a farmer and no "sailor bold," had a son named William Gladstone Cobden Bright, who, so fur from fallowing in the footsteps of Iiia namesakes as statesman and patriot, was wearing the broad arrow; of a convict when last heard of. Thera have been at least two Charles Peaces --one notorious as bur- glar and murderer, the other fantod for his piety and eloquence In the pul- pit. And al two Jabez llalfours, the memory of ono is associated with fraud and penal servitude, of the ether with a life devoted to beers c8 love alnd charity in the shuts of London. Ernest Frost Winter was boru in the summer, and lived and died in the tropics. Lord Henry I3a'land'a name figured on the sign of a wayside inn, but never on. the roll of the Britlsh peerage, And Jamc,t Wealthy Mann died not long ago in a North County Workhouse, in which he had spent two-thirds of his life. Stormy Petrel Adams vras a local preacher and Sun- day -school teacher, remarkable for his wonderfully gentle speech and man - And :lir. Leonard Jolly Death Is still very much alive, and as "Jelly" as the Christian name given hint by his god- fathers and godmc•there. ,Animals Have a Sense of Humor. Animals have their little playful moments, and come even have a pro- nounced spark of humor, The crane, fur example, will am'is's itself sometimes by running ro,n,l in circles and throwing small pebbles and bits of wood lute the air. Other water birds can any time be cbeerved at their frolics, cleaving the water or driving after each other, Deer lova a sham battle, and try their strength by twis:tlmg their hor'rs together and pushing for mastery. Tho gambols of lambs, and the playful but• ting propensities of gent, are known to everybody, On one occasion the writer was at a circus entertainment where a clown was trying to emulate the feat or sums performing dogs, which consittee of jumping through various lt0csps and baskets, His efforts were so ludicrous that one of the dogs actually laughed, the expression en its face being so comical that It caur.ti a roar of laugh- ter. A tame magpie w4.3 once observed to be gathering some pebbles in the garden, and solenmly dropping 1110171 in a deep hole which had been made to receive a poet. As each steno drop. ped the magpie gave a triumphant chuckle, end searched for uuaiher stone. Examination showed that a toad was at the bottom of the hole, which can only point to the fact that the bird was stoning it for antue,lmeltt, Cats, are especially playful in their habits, and nearly everybody w: o owns a cat will have noticed how they sometimes hide sound corners, and then pounce out upon anything that comes near. The way la which a cat will play with a mouse gives rise to lho suggestion that it is fun which prompts the cat to do this. Nor is playfulne:ts confined to do- mestic animals' or pots. Young jag. tiara will play Just like Mittens with any round substance, while the vie - phalli's chief sport is to 1111 his trunk with water and squirt It all over his back, or any other back within reach. Monkeys --well, who has not hoard of their mischievous ways? Worth Engaging. Into the office of a business 111a11 rasped a briglttfasml lad.. For three minutes' he waited, and then baleen to sltow signs of impatience. - "Excuse me, air.," he said, at length, "1' a flu," "ntWointf1, wharryt do you want?" askee tate business man, "A Jew, "Bat why the hurry?" :'flet to hurry," 1'eplled the lad, briefly. "Left. school yosterdaty, and haven't struck enytlting suitable yet. The only place where I can stay ling is where they pay me for it," " f10w muh 11you. want:?" ' "F101 dirllaros tt0 i eek'for a s' tart:" ".Anil when can you come?" i1Don't need to conte; I'm here, I could have been at work Jivo miatitos M9 It you'll ugly said s;a." F