DESTRUCTIVE WOOD-BORER CONQUERED AT LAST T By CHARLES E. EDWARDS HE teredo, that industrious borer which causes the destruction of more lumber every year than the annual cut of the State of Washington, has finally met its match, for after experimenting for years with casings of metal and cement, with preservatives such as tar and creosote and with poisons injected into the wooden piles that are subject to attack, the inventive wit of man has finally hit upon the most efficient and inexpensive agent for destroying the teredo electricity. The electric current has been tried in the past upon the wood thus infested, but that method proved ineffectual for the reason that the vitreous shell which encases the teredo is a perfect insulation, so that after all the expense and difficulty of sending a powerful current through the piling, the little pest worked on undisturbed. Recently, however, a new application of the electric current to this problem was tried out in Seattle and proved an immediate success. It was passed not through the wood but through the salt water about the piling, and its action upon the salt contained in sea water was to liberate chlorine gas in volume sufficient to kill every teredo in the vicinity, no matter how deeply it had burrowed into the heart of the timber. The action of the chlorine gas The upon the teredo is not only to destroy its life but to coagulate its body. eggs are also acted upon by the gas with fatal result. The apparatus devised for this purpose by the Seattle men who originated the system, Prof. George Delius and Mr. C. P. Tatro, consists of a barge equipped as a power plant and a number of electrodes, the latter being suspended in the water under the dock or pier to be treated. After the wiring is properly connected, a current of low voltage and high amperage is turned on, and maintained for about an hour. Of course this treatment must be used at regular intervals, but the price at which it is possible to operate the system at a profit is very low, in fact the inventors estimate that even with the addition of this fixed charge for wharf maintenance there will be a great saving to the owners. They figure it out in this way: The average cost of a creosoted pile is $28.00 while a similar pile with the bark on and not creosoted costs only $4.90, leaving the difference saved $23.10. Now the interest on this amount at 7 per cent is $1.61, while the minimum charge for treatment per annum of the pile is only $1.50, so that the electrolytic system for killing the teredo costs less than the interest on the money saved in the first place. In addition to this economy there is also the advantage of having a more permanent structure, as even C. P. TATRO OF SEATTLE. AFTER A WOODEN PILE HAS BEEN EATEN BY TEREDOS. the creosoted pile is not im- can be preserved from further PROF. GEORGE DELIUS. fected by the chlorine gas, even though its head is boring far into the timber. During a test made in December, 1910, some piles were subjected to the electrolytic treatment and after twenty-four hours were taken out of the water and split open. Every teredo in the wood was found to be dead and the filament-like body had been coagulated by the poisonous gas until it had the consistency of a soft poached egg. The hulls of ships can be cleaned from barnacles by the same method, which involves considerably less expense than the primitive process of scraping them off. It is a very remarkable circumstance that this tiny crea TEREDO-EATEN WOOD. A plum pudding from which all the plums have been ex ture, which is no larger than a hair at the time it begins its destructive work, has successfully defied man all through the ages. While known as "shipworms" the teredo and the xylotrya-a similar pest-are really not worms at all but molluscs, which are hatched out in enormous numbers and in the waters of moderate temperature reach maturity in an amazingly short time. When the tiny creature is first hatched it is so small that it can penetrate the most minute crack in the casing of a protected pile and it is for this reason that sheathings of metal or of concrete cannot be depended upon. Once attached to the wood, it begins to burrow toward the center and finally, if unchecked, will honeycomb the timber until it resembles a sponge. The surface of the pile is gradually washed away by the action of the water and unless repaired the entire pile will be completely eaten through, and will ultimately collapse. In the Gulf of Mexico the ravages of the teredo proceed so rapidly that the average life of an unprotected pile is from one to two years, while piles have been destroyed in such short periods as from one to five months. When we pause to consider that only the finest, straightest logs can be used for this purpose it will be seen what an enormous waste is caused by this little worm-like enemy which is apparently so insignificant. It is conservatively estimated that the annual timber loss due to the teredo and similar marine wood borers is more than eight billion board feet, and with the increasing cost of timber due to the depletion of our forests, the financial loss caused by the teredo has been growing more serious every year. At Keswick In mountain-girdled Keswick, once I sate Hinting of deeds that legends old relate. Soon, clouds arose to mar the glamoured night, And charging winds manoeuvered through the spruce; Our spirits clomb, like those who scorn return, -C. G. Blanden REMARKABLE LITTLE FRENCH CAR THAT MAY DISPLACE THE MOTORCYCLE. FOREIGN AUTOS OF LOW COST By W. F. BRADLEY F the initial cost of an automobile could be brought as low as that of a high-grade motor bicycle, and cost of upkeep could be made to compare with that of the two-wheeler, there are undoubtedly thousands of citizens in all countries who would be attracted to mechanical means of locomotion. The problem is one that has long been troubling European manufacturers, for in England and France there is a potential clientele who cannot be attracted to the motorcycle and cannot be induced to purchase even the cheapest type of car. In the past the attempt at a cheap vehicle has been along the lines of big car design. Scores of these have been produced, with accommodation for one or two passengers, the power plant generally consisting of a single cylinder motor, transmitting power to the rear wheels in the usual way through a clutch, gear box and live axle. In its main features such a car is a reduction of higher powered and more costly vehicles. With a view to bring down cost still further, belt drive has been adopted, thus abolishing the differential, the clutch, and in some cases the gear box. An example of this type is to be found in a new make of car, which has either a single or a two-cylinder motor, belt transmission and final drive to one of the rear wheels, by means of an enclosed chain. There is a change-speed mechanism in the form of a couple of dog clutches on the counter shaft, allowing for two speeds. The whole of the rear axle, chain and countershaft have a fore and aft motion to allow of slackening off the belt sufficiently to permit the engine to run free. The width of the car is low, but, with a view to sociability, the passenger's seat is only slightly to the rear of the driver's position. To place them exactly side by side would be impossible without increasing the width of the car. There is even room for an emergency seat or for luggage at the rear of the driver. But there appear to be more possibilities by working along motorcycle rather than automobile lines. This at any rate has been the experience of European manufacturers, who have found it almost impossible to get below five hundred dollars on cars of the usual build, but have been able to produce what may be termed four-wheeled motorcycles for half this price. The lead, which is now being followed strongly by both English and French constructors, was given in a little car that is really nothing more than a four-wheel motorcycle. It costs very little more in the first instance than a high-grade motorcycle, the upkeep is THOUGH THEY ARE SEATED TANDEM STYLE, THERE IS ROOM FOR THREE PERSONS. APPEARS NEAT AND SATISFYING TO THE EYE WHEN FULLY EQUIPPED. A SPEEDY FRENCH HOMEMADE RUNABOUT. It looks a bit odd at first sight. but is exceedingly practical and convenient. about the same, its speed is equal to that of a two-wheeler, and its comfort is infinitely greater. It is a long, narrow, boat-like vehicle, mounted on four wire wheels, carrying its passengers tandem fashion, with the driver at the rear, and having a single or two-cylinder air-cooled motor under cover in front. The frame, consisting of two wooden members, is narrowed in front, the sides are enclosed, the top is closed in by the gasoline tank, while the front is left open to allow a free passage for the air. A single chain running under the footboards takes the drive to a countershaft, on each extremity of which are a couple of pulleys from which power is carried to the rear wheels by belts, as in a motorcycle. The two pulleys permit a quick change of gear ratio. There is neither clutch, gear box nor differential. The rear axle is attached to the extremity of a pair of inverted semi-elliptic springs, the front hanger of which is pivoted, thus allowing the axle to be moved forward or backward by means of a lever at the driver's right hand. It is by this means that the belt can be slackened off to disconnect the motor. At the front there is a tubular pivoting axle, with a coil spring suspension. Steering is direct, with a large diameter steering wheel and steel cable connections. Any man who has had experience with a motorcycle is at once at home with this little car. As it can do all that he expects of his two-wheeler, and has the additional advantage of being able to carry a passenger and of offering some degree of comfort, it is not surprising that it has jumped into immediate favor among motorcyclists. Its use has not been confined to pleasure purposes, however, a large number of these little vehicles being in service in France for quick |