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until the young are ready to be separated from her, when she is either eaten or allowed to go. The young are then caged and fed until they are large enough for the market.

The opossum is not overcarniverous, though he has been known to raid a hen coop. He prefers grain, fruit. and vegetables. Above all, his palate is most tickled with the persimmon.

For marketing purposes, the opossum is not unlike the turkey in that it takes about a year to get him ready for market and, when in good shape, he sells for about the same price.

THE LAST OF THE Maine. Her prow was recently recovered and reinterred.

revolve the sharpened tube between the fingers and press it on the cork. This will make a clean hole in the cork.

Fill the bottle one-fourth full of water, and insert the tubes as shown in the photograph; connect pieces of the rubber tubing to the brass tubes, and connect the pipe to the tube passing to the bottom of the bottle, and the mouthpiece to the short end. The mouthpiece may be made of brass tubing or a piece of pipe

stem.

PROW OF THE MAINE

The method of carrying the little cap- THIS photograph shows the prow of

tive is a rather cruel one.

MAKING A TURKISH PIPE THE purpose of a turkish pipe is to filter the smoke through water, thereby removing the "bite" and, it is claimed also, the nicotine.

To construct such a pipe, procure a shallow and widemouthed bottle,

also a cork to

fit, about onehalf foot of brass tubing-having an in

the U. S. S. Maine-which was recovered in the Bay of Havana, Cuba, only a short time ago-being placed upside down on a barge. It had not previously been brought up because, it being completely severed from the rest of the Maine at the time of the explosion in 1898, it was not thought best to raise it until all of the cofferdam had been removed. It was estimated to weigh

about seventy tons, and after the shield and scrolls, which can be plainly seen in the photograph, were removed to be sent to the United States, the balance was towed out to sea and sunk near the old Maine itself.

In the lower foreground

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side diameter of one-eighth inchsome ordinary gas or nursery tubing, and a pipe, or cigar holder. File a piece of brass

HAND-MADE "TURKISH" OR WATER PIPE.

tubing to a length of two inches; another to a length of four inches; also sharpen a piece of the same tubing, to make a

are seen the two 10-inch guns from the port turret of the Maine, which were donated by the United States government to the Cuban government, and will be incorporated in a monument to be erected in Havana in memory of the vessel.

And this, it is to be hoped, will be the last of the sad aftermath resulting from the blowing up of the Maine fifteen

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UTO-POLO, which originated at

Wichita, Kansas, last summer, combines all the dangers and excitement of a bullfight, a

football game and a ride in an

aeroplane. The initial game was played in a big alfalfa field near Wichita, and was witnessed by five thousand people.

or

Four stripped cars were used, each carrying a driver and a mallet man. On the forward cars, which did most of the playing, the seats were removed, leaving one small seat for the driver. A taped post served for the mallet man "jockey" to swing on while he wielded his heavy mallet from the running board of the car. The goal-tending autos simply maneuvered near their points of defense, taking no part in the battling in the middle of the field.

An air-filled ball, about the size of an ordinary basketball, was used, and practically the same rules that govern ordinary polo obtained.

Special mallets were made, about the shape of an ordinary croquet mallet, but with a much heavier head. The ordinary croquet mallets were first tried, but the "backfire" from striking the ball from a fast moving car was so powerful that the

substitution was necessary. The heads of the mallets weigh about three pounds each.

The game at Wichita was played in four ten-minute periods-with an intermission of five minutes between periodsthat being about as long as an engine will keep cool under the fierce driving the game requires. The field was 1,100 feet long and 800 feet wide, with goal posts at each end set 60 feet apart. The object of the game is to drive the ball between the goal posts defended by the opposing team.

To distinguish the teams, the players on one side wore red sweaters, and were called the "Red Devils," while those on the other side wore gray sweaters, and were known as the "Gray Ghosts."

In addition to the players, there was a referee and a timekeeper. The former followed the players in his own car, took charge of the ball when it went out of boundaries, and decided all fouls and other infringements of the rules. There was also an official surgeon on hand in case of accident.

At the beginning of the game, the referee placed the ball in the middle of the field, while the players lined up behind their respective goal lines, with the

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engines of their cars running. At the crack of the referee's pistol, the two "forwards" started like a flash and raced for the ball, the cars going at a speed close to sixty miles an hour. The "Red Devil" machine reached the ball first and the mallet man made a drive of fifty yards. The driver of the "Gray Ghost" machine stopped short and made a skidding turn, bringing his car up on two wheels. By throwing his weight against the steering gear, he managed to right the car, and came around in time to block the "Red Devils'" rush for the goal. The first period ended with one goal apiece, and thereafter the defense of each team became so perfect that no further scoring was done.

Many thrilling incidents occur during the playing of auto-polo. When, for instance, one car reaches the ball ahead of the opponent, and the mallet and the mallet man smashes the ball out of reach, it is then up to the driver of the second car to perform the difficult feat of turning completely about in a space of a hundred feet or less, while traveling forty miles or more an hour. Often too short a turn is attempted, and the players are thrown out, the car turning over. An accident of this sort is not as serious as it might appear, however, as each car is

equipped with a hoop-like arrangement of steel above the driver's seat, which prevents the car from falling on the players. Such an upset invariably brings the spectators to their feet. It is more exciting than football.

Another thrill is furnished when the ball is in play with two machines racing after it along the side lines, each attempting to prevent the other from getting it, and to drive it toward his opponent's goal without knocking it out of bounds, and at the same time trying to keep from running into each other.

The problems of the driver are many and often vexing. He must watch the ball, the opposing drivers, the position of the goal posts, and the proximity of his own car to foreign territory, and at the same time seize every chance to get and keep his mallet man in good position for a clean, effective drive. In doing this he may speed with all his might to a certain point, then, realizing that he is wrong, suddenly reverse. Cutting down from high speed to a sudden stop, getting from slow speed to high speed in the quickest time and most effectively without killing his engine,

turning over, or skidding, constitute some of the other difficulties with which the driver has to contend.

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A

By

P. HARVEY MIDDLETON

FTER over twenty years of work, Harry Fisher of New Zealand has perfected a lifeboat which, to use his own words, "cannot be sunk unless it is cut in half." He adds: "I have had experimental models crash into heavy ships in the roughest seas, have rammed gaping holes in the outer protection of the boat, and have put it through every test that a lifeboat would be likely to encounter, and the result is complete confidence in its ability to withstand anything."

The safety of the boat was strikingly demonstrated at a try-out at Toronto, where the boat was built. The lifeboat was attached by flanges to a steel girder raised thirty feet in the air above the deck of a vessel, and was supposed to

run to the end of the girder and then drop into the water. The boat was loaded with eager volunteers. All went well until the boat had rolled about half the length of the girder, when the attachments broke and the lifeboat dropped to the edge of the vessel and bounded into the water. Before the spectators had time to scream, the lifeboat bobbed up serenely about forty feet away, and one of the crew merrily waved a flag through one of the portholes. A huge hole was stove in the side of the outer compartment, but the craft settled down to the level of the inner shell, and continued to float easily.

The present boat is twenty-four feet long, being somewhat larger than the model used by the inventor in New Zealand. It is a cylindrical shaped body and is constructed entirely of steel, with conical

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READY FOR THE LAUNCHING.

provided between the interior and exterior, and daylight comes in through windows on the bulkheads at the upper part of the cone bases.

Ever since the accident at Toronto, the launching has been accomplished by means of a capsizable metal cradle

with releasing clips to allow the lifeboat to roll overboard quickly in an

emergency. The motive power of the boat is furnished by the passengers, who turn the propeller with a rail lever, driving the boat along at about five miles an hour. Food and water can be stored in considerable quantities in the lockers under the seats. "In the almost impossible event of the boat's being sunk temporarily by some tremendous weight," said the inventor, "provision has been made for the shutting off of all air outlets, thus making the boat an air-tight compartment. Forty passengers could remain alive three minutes with the air supply in the boat itself.

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DIVING HEAD FIRST, LOADED WITH PASSENGERS.

These seats accommodate forty passengers, and there is standing room for as many more in the central portion of the car. In the conical ends of the boats, which are fitted up as observation compartments and signal quarters, there is room for two seamen. On the opposite side of the entrance there are two emergency doors for use in case the boat should be beached bottom-side up.

On the outer shell are footboards hinged to fold up when the lifeboat is aboard ship, and fitted with life-lines which, when caught by persons in the water, fall down and form a platform on which they may get footing, and they may also grasp handrails attached to the outer shell. Communication valves are

"One of the principal advantages is the speed with which the boat may be launched. At a recent try-out in Canada, the boat, loaded to capacity with passengers, was launched in the record time of thirty seconds. At night a heavy battery supplies light at both ends of the boat, and makes it visible for many miles."

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