REMAINS OF ICEBERG. OFF THE NORWEGIAN COAST, THAT TOOK THE FORM OF A PAIR OF BEAUTIFUL WHITE LILIES.

PUTTING TOGETHER THE HOLLOW WOODEN BALL FOR CLEANING PARIS' SEWERS.

CAB CALL THAT'S NOISELESS

A

LTHOUGH London boasts of being the quietest city in the world, such is of course far from being the truth. There are many anti-street noise societies who try to make it so and one of the latest ideas is the sign which has just been erected by the Carlton Hotel. Instead of hailing visitors' cabs with a shrill blast on a whistle as is usually the case an electrical device now shows "H" if a hansom is required, "T" a taxicab and "F" for a "four-wheeler." The expectant cabby has his eye on the sign and directly his initial is displayed he races to the

hotel for his fare.

It is a neat idea that does away not only with noise, but with much confusion as well.

HERE

JERE is a boat, the invention of a Frenchman, that every traveler on the water, especially if he can not swim, should carry with him. It is one of the most ingenious contrivances in the nautical line that has ever been devised. The idea is based on the pneumatic principle. The chief parts are a pair of cigar-shaped air containers, and a very light, but stout wooden frame. The air containers, when collapsed, of course take up very little room, and are easily stored away with the rest of the necessary apparatus in a valise or suit case. Two air containers are used in order that the boat may be in equilibrium. The air compartments are pumped up through a valve in the middle of each. An ordinary automobile pneumatic pump is used for the purpose. The whole affair may be put together or taken apart in a very

HOW'S THIS FOR A VALVE? Said to be the hugest of electric valves-manufactured at Springfield, Massachusetts.

PHOTO OF HUGE ELECTRIC SPARK. This was formed by the discharge of 325.000 volts.

few minutes. The entire equipment, including paddles and seat, all find some place in the valise. Such a device as this would be invaluable in saving lives on a steamer that was sinking in a calm sea, or on a river craft imperiled through fire.

GIGANTIC ELECTRIC VOLT

THE

HE curious photograph printed herewith has puzzled many expert electricians. Few have correctly guessed what it represents. It is not a snapshot of freak lightning nor is it part of a Chinese tree. It is the image of one of the greatest electric sparks ever generated, formed by discharge of 325,000 volts at Schenectady, New York.

This remarkable discharge was obtained by connecting in series two highpotential alternating-current transformers giving 60 alternations per second, the photograph having been taken with an exposure of one-ninetieth of a second. The electrodes were placed 19 inches apart, with two half-inch sheets of plate glass, 36 inches square and two inches

apart, set up between the electrodes on a polished plate of ebonite. It is interesting that most of the discharge passed down the surfaces of one of the glass sheets, around the bottom edges, and up the outside faces of the opposite sheet, although a part of the discharge doubled around the right-hand side of the plates. The lines of contact with the surface of the ebonite plate at the bottom can be seen in faint reflections. This spark was of almost blinding brilliancy, and crackled like a discharge of musketry.

THE FARE-HEIGHT MARK

ERETOFORE the wisdom of Solomon was required of all street car conductors many times a day when the question of a child's age arose. If the child in question was under five it was supposed to ride free, otherwise the conductor was required to collect regular fare. But who was to decide the question of age? If the fond mamma stated that a big husky youngster who looked to be seven was really only four years and eleven months old, what proof could the harassed conductor produce? This delicate problem has just been solved by the Cincinnati Car Company in a manner that would make the author of the Book of Proverbs look to his laurels as a shrewd judge. By careful computation it was ascertained that the average height of five-year-olds is 41 inches and accordingly a mark was painted at that height from the floor in their cars. Hereafter there can be no insinuations regarding the veracity of parents who desire to save that nickel. If dispute arises, the youngster is marched up to the fare-height mark and the answer is obvious.

HOW HIGH IS THE CHILD? Clever plan prevents feminine equivocation, and. incidentally, trouble for the car conducter.

ELECTRIC LIGHT FOR EVERY OCCASION. A simple method of regulating the length of the cord.

THIS

THE TAPE MEASURE LIGHT new extension electric light is very much on the principle of a carpenter's tape line.

A cord fifteen feet long is contained in the case, having a mechanism for rewinding on one side and an incandescent lamp socket upon the other. When light is desired at some distance from the regular fixtures, a plug on the end of the cord is screwed into the regular socket and the cord drawn out to the required distance. A catch holds the cord from unwinding at any desired. point, so that the lamp may be suspended a few inches below the fixture if one desires. It is also provided with a leather strap by which it may be hung up.

Many uses for such an extension light are easily found. If carried as a part of the traveling equipment it is not necessary to carry a lamp, as the socket and plug are of standard size and will fit any fixtures in common use.

EGG OF THE EXTINCT MOA, GIANT AMONG BIRDS.

BIGGEST BIRD THAT EVER

LIVED

THE moa, a species peculiar to New Zealand, is supposed to have been the biggest bird that ever lived on the earth. Probably it was no taller than the giant ostrich of Madagascar (the original of the fabled "roc"), but it was much heavier, a full-grown specimen weighing as much as 1,000 pounds.

The moa was extremely stupid, and very slow and clumsy in its movements, its legs being enormously heavy and bulky. Not only was it incapable of flight, but it could not even run fast.

Apparently, the species was wholly wiped out, about 500 years ago, by an extraordinarily cold winter. The birds. gathered about hot springs in flocks, for warmth, but perished in great numbersthe result being, that at the present time, their bones are dug up by the ton in some places, particularly swamps.

A few of the eggs of this remarkable bird-not more than half-a-dozenexist today. One of them, in the Museum of Natural History in New York, actually contains the bones of an unhatched moa. It is as big as six ostrich eggs, and a silk hat would just about make a suitable egg-cup to hold its con

tents.

BOAT THAT ROLLS OVER THE WATER-A CURIOUS CRAFT AT SIOUX CITY. IOWA.

THE ENGINE THAT STOPS AND STARTS IN MID-AIR -THE INVENTION OF A RESIDENT

LOS ANGELES

STARTS MOTOR IN MID-AIR

A RESIDENT of Los Angeles, Cal.,

is the inventor of a new style of engine for aeroplanes. The engine is a true rotary. In the case of the GnomeFrench-engine, generally known as a rotary, the cylinders simply revolve around the shaft. In this new invention the engine including the shaft, revolves. Also the cylinders, instead of being placed at right angles are parallel to the shaft; therefore, the centrifugal motion tends to distribute the lubricant, rather than to concentrate it in the end of the cylinder where the explosion will crystallize and foul the plugs.

Another innovation is a variable length of stroke, giving variable compression. This feature makes it possible for the operator to stop and start his