Money-Making Clock THIS clock was designed on the the ory that time is money. It was called the $500,000 Clock, because it was used to register the collection of this sum for the Young Men's Christian Association Building at Baltimore. The money was secured by contribution, and at the end of each day the amount which had been paid in was indicated by the hands of the clock. The accompanying photograph was taken shortly after the $500,000 had all been secured, so the hands point to the hour of twelve. THE Dumont's New Flyer HE Deutsch-Archdeacon prize of $10,000 for a heavier-than-air machine which will cover a distance of more than one kilometer and return to the point of departure, will be contested for by Santos-Dumont. He has constructed a new ship, the wings of which are made of thin and highly polished wood, while the frame is built of very light mahogany. The two wings of the ship have a spread from tip to tip of thirteen meters, meet at an angle of eight degrees and are constructed on the order of the Hargrave box kites. The motor to operate the propeller is of fifty horse power, and the blades of the propeller are of aluminum and are two meters in diameter. Believing that it would have a better grip on the air, the propeller was placed CLOCK THAT COLLECTED $500,000. in front. The helm and steering gear are in the rear, with side rudders on the wings for controlling the equilibrium. While this new ship is made more powerful than was the "Bird of Prey," with which Dumont won the Archdeacon prize last year, it is lighter by twenty kilos than the prize winning aëroplane. Black Balling by Electricity By Howard Greene LECTRICAL balloting is one of the latest innovations introduced by the Automobile Club of America in its magnificent new clubhouse in New York. Formerly the board of governors made use of the old-fashioned black and white ball plan. This was good enough so long as there were not very many applicants for membership to be balloted for, but when the lists assumed large proportions a great deal of time was lost by the handling of the little spheres and the ballot box. So a new and much superior system was devised by the club's first vice-president and consulting engineer, Dr. Schuyler Skaats Wheeler. Instead of there being a ballot box passed, each member sits in his chair and presses a button, transmitting his vote electrically to the ballot box. Each voter has in his hand a small block of wood in which are two push-buttons, one black and the other white. If he has no objection to the member whose name is up, he presses the white button and his vote is recorded accordingly; but if he thinks the club would be better off without the applicant, he presses the black one. In either case he votes absolutely in secret and in the twinkling of an eye. The electrical device that corresponds to the ballot box is a small two-drop annunciator; one of the drops has on it a black disk-the equivalent of the damning black ball-while the other is plain white. When voting is about to commence a curtain is drawn over the face of the annunciator; after the governors have pressed their buttons the curtain is ELECTRIC VOTING MACHINE USED BY AUTOMOBILE CLUB, NEW YORK CITY. The member pushes white or black button, as he wishes to admit or reject applicant. withdrawn and the drops scanned. If only the white drop has fallen a new member has been added to the club's roll; but if anyone has pressed a black button the black disk will be in view, nipping the would-be member's aspirations in the bud. It is of course impossible to tell who has voted either way, or even how many black balls have been cast. A great deal of time is saved when there are a number of names before the board, as is often the case. The electric current is supplied by a set of four dry cells carried in the lower part of a wood case; cables extend to the annunciator and around the table, and branch wires connect with the buttonblocks in the members' hands. When the apparatus is not in use it is all packed into the case above the battery and the case is stored out of the way. A handle at the top renders it easy to carry about, as the weight is not great. Hence it may quickly be removed. The Poet The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact: One sees more devils than vast hell can hold, That is, the madman: The lover all as frantic, Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt: The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling, Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven And as imagination bodies forth The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name. Such tricks hath strong imagination, That if it would but apprehend some joy, It comprehends some bringer of that joy; Or in the night, imagining some fear, How easy is a bush supposed a bear! -SHAKESPEARE. Are you puzzled by any question in Engineering or the Mechanic Arts? Put the question into writing ayd mail it to the Consulting Department, TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE. We have made arrangements to have all such questions answered by a staff of consulting engineers and other experts whose services have been specially enlisted for that purpose. If the question asked is of general interest, the answer will be published in the magazine. If of only personal interest, the answer will be sent by mail, provided a stamped and addressed envelope is enclosed with the question, Requests for information as to where desired articles can be purchased will also be cheerfully answered. Strength of Knots in Ropes What are the strengths of knots in ropes, and why are they not as strong as the rope when no slipping occurs in the knot?-W.T.H. If a knot is tied in a rope, its failure usually occurs at that place. In the straight part of a rope, each fibre takes the proper share of the load, but in all knots the rope is cramped or has a short bend which throws the overload on those fibres that are on the outside of the bend and one fibre after another breaks until the rope is torn apart. The shorter the bend in the standing rope, the weaker is the knot. The approximate strength of knots as compared with full strength of the rope is as follows: Eye splice over an iron thimble, shown in Figure A. 90%; a splice in the rope, 80%; timber F C H VARIOUS WAYS OF KNOTTING ROPES. E power hour at full load. The speed was 3,550 revolutions per minute and the vacuum was 28 inches. With dry saturated steam the consumption was 13.5 pounds per brake horse-power hour at full load, and 15.5 pounds at one-half load. A 1,000 kilowatt machine, using steam of 150 pounds pressure and superheated 140 degrees, exhausting into a vacuum of 28 inches, showed the very remarkable economy of 12.66 pounds of steam per electrical horse-power per hour. A 1,500 kilowatt WestinghouseParsons turbine, using dry saturated steam of 150 pounds pressure with 27 inches vacuum, consumed 14.8 pounds. steam per electrical horse-power hour at full load, and 17.2 pounds at one-half load. Gas Producer vs. Steam Plants How do the efficiencies of Gas Producer Plants compare with those of Steam Plants? -H. R. N. The chart printed herewith will give you a much better idea than any description can do. To Bronze Iron Can you describe a good method for bronzing iron that will prevent rust?-A. K. S. All the methods as yet known for producing a bronze-like surface, by rubbing over the surface of the iron an acid solution of copper or an iron solution, letting it dry in the air, brushing off the rust produced in this way, and an abundant repetition of this method, give a more or less reddish-brown crust or rust on the iron body. Objects formed of iron can easily be covered with copper or brass by dipping them in the requisite solution, or by submitting them to the galvanic method. The surface so prepared, however, peels off in a short time, by exposure to moist air in particular. By the method given below it is possible to cover iron objects, especially such as have an artistic aim, with a fine bronze-like surface; it resists pretty satisfactorily the influence of moisture, and one is, moreover, enabled to apply it to any object with great ease. The clean, polished objects are to be exposed to the action of the vapors of a heated mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, in equal portions, for from two to five minutes; they are not until the vaseline begins to decompose. When again cold they should be a second time treated with vaseline in the same way. If the vapor of a mixture of the two concentrated acids is allowed to act on an iron object in this manner a light reddish-brown tone is developed. If some acetic acid be mixed with the two acids, and the vapor of all the acids together be allowed to act on the metallic surface, a fine bronze yellow color can be obtained. By using different mixtures of these acids every tint, from a dull red-brown to a light brown, and from a dull brownish yellow to light brown yellow, can be produced on the surface of |
