RUBBER ARMOR FOR AIR MEN costume which he suggests should be idea of protection is an air-inflated suit. PALM TREE GROWING THROUGH ROOF. With a view to protecting the spine and flated on the crown and around the back and over the collar-bones. What is needed, he points out, is the protection of the neck against a backward or for- the dome of the head from fracture, the ward wrench. The weight of the padding rolls under the chin would have to be on the shoulders ought to cushion off the made thick so that the head could be worst of a sideways wrench. To protect driven down on them without too much the spinal cord from being snapped and harm. SOMETHING SOFT FOR AERONAUTS. ONE OF THE BIGGEST GUNS IN THE WORLD. This piece of artillery is of the so-called wire design and has been undergoing tests near New York City. It has a new form of disappearing carriage. CHINESE COFFIN | CHINESE coffin is constructed in a d in a I very substantial manner. There is about four times as much wood in it as in the average American casket, and it is wood of a much better quality than is employed for the cheaper grades of caskets in this country. The coffins are unusually heavy, and the four outer slabs of which they are made, are from six to eight inches wide. The logs are cut concave inside, as the picture would indicate, and little in the way of decorating or upholstering is done. There is none too much room inside, and the Chinaman is laid away in crowded quarters just as he lives in his sadly over-populated country or in his American “Chinatown.” The poor “heathen Chinee" seems destined to be hampered for elbow room, not only in this vale of tears, but in the world beyond-a sad fate, indeed, for the "yellow man. charity and special education. Miss Hayssible for us to see the living form of the was educated by the state at the Western petrified remains shown in our illustraPennsylvania Institution for the Blind, Bellefield, and all the teachers and officials are justly proud of her. Miss Hays takes dictation from a phonograph and turns out flawless copy without assistance. She is one of the very few blind girl stenographers in the world, and is the only one, so far as known, who is working from phonographic dictation and turning out such a mass of work. Here is one of those cases, which every now and then come to light, of a determined soul who simply refuses to be overcome by any handicap that nature or misfortune may put in the path, and who seems to be placed as an example Tuis CreatuRE USED TO “Aviate.” A Pterodactylus, or flying reptile, of prehistoric for the less courageous to follow. times. tion, we might mistake its flight through the air for some venturesome aviator of the present day. Our illustration shows the petrified remains of what is known as a Pterodactylus, or flying reptile, whose species has been long since extinct. Its elongated fingers had a flying membrane attached somewhat like a bat, and when in flight must have resembled the planes of an airship, as it was of colossal proportions, measuring about twenty feet from point to point. Its body measured sometimes as much as four or five yards, while the head was entirely out of proportion and developed abnormally, its jaws being almost thirty inches in length. A number of these petrified remains have been discovered in the Smoky Hills of Kansas. The posterior limbs of this creature reached a development sufficient to carry it over the ground in half running flight, A New Way to RECOMPENSE Literary Heirs. Proceeds from sale of these stamps will go to Dickens' descendants. also lift itself into the air. Its jaws and mouth, although of such huge proportions, were not of powerful build, and authorities tell us that it was considered of feeble strength considering the development of parts of its body. DICKENS TESTIMONIAL STAMPS THE first of the proof sets of the Dickens testimonial stamp has been forwarded to the King by his majesty's express desire. Each stamp bears a water mark as a safeguard against forgery. The committee hopes that at least ten millions of these stamps will be sold as a centenary testimonial to the descendants of Dickens. It is not yet decided how the money shall be spent, but it is hoped that a memorial to Dickens may be included in the scheme. Americans ought to have a share in the purchase of these stamps, if only because this favorite English author became amazingly popular here largely without profit to himself, because of piratical publishers. In the old days, before the enactment of an international copyright law, English authors were at the mercy of American publishers, who paid them not one cent in royalties. This Lady Is Neither SITTING NOR DEFORMED. The strange fore-shortened effect is produced by taking photo from above. BATHING SUIT A LIFE PRESERVER SOMETHING entirely now in the line w of a life preserver has been recently discovered by a German scientist. It is made in the form of a lining to bathing suits and possesses the peculiar quality of floating the wearer upon the surface of the water. The material and process of manufacture is probably a secret one as no information seems to be available as to its character. It possesses, however, fully as useful qualities as the bullet-proof-cloth that has been much experimented with as a lining for army uniforms. The buoyant qualities do not interfere in any respect with the persons BATHING SUITS AS LIFE PRESERVERS. performing all the customary feats of A new idea that has appeared in Germany. swimming, but should any injury befall the swimmer the material supports the the seed was sown it yielded nine cutwearer in the water until someone can tings. Each cutting averaged one ton come to his aid. Bathing suits of this per acre or nine tons per acre for the material are also of particular advantage twelve months. It is stated that alfalfa to beginners at swimming schools, it always produces a larger yield after the being impossible for them to go under first year. The wonderful results that are water. being obtained from this and other fields of alfalfa in that section are attributed to BIG YIELD OF ALFALFA the ready manner in which the roots of the plants take hold in the soil and the FARMERS in the lower Rio Grande attention that is given by the farmers Valley of Texas are finding alfalfa 'in irrigating the growing crops. The a very profitable crop. Near Mercedes, success of the alfalfa industry is causing one of the new towns in that rapidly considerable attention to be given to raisdeveloping region, is a field of alfalfa ing hogs by these farmers. It is proven that was planted December 20, 1910, and to be an ideal feed for the animals and within a period of twelve months after they quickly fatten on it. SCIENTIFIC FLY TRAP OF late years the house-fly has been recognized as a carrier of disease, and consequently any invention which will check its pernicious activities is of importance. The western invention illustrated herewith is a cylindrical trap of wire netting, which is attached to a window pane by means of a vacuum rubber support. Below the cylinder is a semicircle of metal arranged in such a way that flies walking on the pane will be led to the entrance of the trap and, once in, they are unable to find their way out. This ingenious little device is really built on scientific principles as the inventor has evidently studied the habit of flies on the glass and has noted the propensity to follow any obstacle they meet instead of turning back. MECHANICAL FREAK OUR photograph well depicts to what lengths the London manufacturer will go in search of novelty. The vehicle shown below, which is half motor car and half cycle, is striving to attain popularity amongst that intermediate class of people who are not rich enough to buy a motor car, but who want something more than a motor cycle. “WILL You WALK INTO My House?” SAYS THE MAN TO THE FLY. UNUSUAL PUNCTURE AUTOMOBILE tires have a way of collecting a great many articles more or less detrimental to the life of the tire. The wit's definition of a puncture-a hole in the tire where all the pleasure of motoring goes out-must have been felt by the owner of the car whose tire picked up the rather unusual souvenir shown in the illustration. Automobile tires in order to increase their usefulness and life should not be run when in a soft condition. This was the cause of the railroad spike attaching itself to the tire in such an unusual way. It is a well known fact among the makers of automobile tires that a hard tire is able to resist picking up objects along its path much more readily than when not properly inflated. |