FLOODS AT PANAMA HEAVY and continuous rains along the canal zone caused the Chagres River recently to rise so high as to flood almost everything from Bas Obispo to Gatun. The canal at Bas Obispo, showing a steam shovel nearly submerged, and where work has been hindered because it filled with water, are shown in the accompanying photograph. The Isthmus Canal Commission maintains stations from the of gasoline burners, which are fed from tanks carried at the sides of the car behind. Back of the burners is a huge fender, erected to protect the men operating the car, from the heat of the flames. When the burners are lighted the car runs along the road and the fire is forced downward, under the burner-plates, upon every living thing between the rails. As the flames are plentifully fed and very hot, the result is the utter blighting of weeds of all descriptions. Railroads have much trouble with weeds which not only disfigure the tracks but actually injure the roadbed when allowed to grow without regular checking. This device, however, will put an end to the difficulty wherever it is used systematically. The expense of operating the "fire-car" is not great and its work is effective and sure. headwaters of the Chagres River down nearly to the Gamboa Bridge. These observers make note of all changes and telephone their observations to the head office at Culebra. Whenever they predict a flood, orders are at once issued to all towns that are in danger and arrangements are made at once by the police of the towns to force the people to leave their homes. Some absolutely refuse to leave their houses as, when the police notify them to leave, there is no sign of the river's treacherous flow and they cannot understand how the Americans know when the river is going to rise beyond its banks. REMARKABLE COLLAPSIBLE LADDER. New German invention that raises or lowers ladder by crank power. These conditions will be changed and corrected when the canal is finished but floods have to be fought now, among obstacles that nature seems to delight to put before the engineers. anian factory. The gas-bag contains a double section balloonette which rests on the bottom of the balloon, the idea being to secure greater stiffness of the fabric. The car is carried immediately beneath the center of the envelope, and is slung from longitudinal wooden beams, secured to the fabric by means of substantial straps. These beams, extending almost the entire length of the envelope, similar to a vessel's bilge keels, serve to stiffen the bag longitudinally. The wood lengths are secured to one another, to form a continuous beam by means of plugs, so that they can be easily dismantled for transportation. The balloon is not intended to rival the Zeppelin airship, but was built as a cruising dirigible which can be readily transported. TELEGRAPH MAGNIFIER. Device that intensifies sounds of Morse instruments and materially helps operators. above all other instruments in an operating room, as desired by the operator. As the signals are magnified directly FOR "SHOOTING UP" BAL LOONS. New German swivel gun made specially for the purpose of fighting airships. from the main line relay the use of a sounder is done away with and as the sounder is done away with the necessity for the local batteries is also overcome. As the local batteries add no strength to the main line current and the magnifier adds no labor to the relay it will be seen that the doing away with local batteries, sounder and resonator will effect a great saving. The signals from the magnifier are delivered to the operator through a horn which not only assists in magnifying the sound but acts as a perfect resonator. In offices where many instruments are working at the same time, this device is very useful in isolating a single message. STATION ANNOUNCERS ON STREET-CARS small electric mo tor, which is by ONE of the greatly needed improve- connected to the ments for rapid transit service is some form of automatic station announcer, placed in a conspicuous position on the car. The present method, under which the name of the next station is called out by the guard, is little better than a farce. Reproduced herewith are photographs of a new device which automatically announces streets or stations, so that all passengers in the car may see and read. The names of streets and the advertisements. are put on a web, the ends of which are fastened to opposite rollers, this web to be unwound from one. roller and wound upon the other. As the car is advancing along its route, a circuit closing device on the trolley pole will strike its counterpart, which is put on the first cross wire supporting the trolley wire that is met after a crossing is passed, thereby closing momentarily an electric circuit coming from the wire that supplies current to light the car. This current, in passing through the circuit into the machine, energizes an electric magnet, and passes out through the ground wire. The duty of this magnet is to release an automatic switch, which turns on a separate electric current into a NEW DEVICE FOR CANADIAN WOODS. This engine has a sled for a forward truck and the already well-known caterpillar device upon its drivers. It travels readily over snow-roads, hauling huge loads. two web-carrying TROLLEY ANNOUNCES STREETS. gear with the mo- Spoke of attached wheel strikes pendant arm on trolley wire. COMBINED ANNOUNCER AND ADVERTISER. Inside the car, the street name is shown in the block before it is reached. The motor being new street name to The long felt want of the public for something of this sort, seems to be adequately met by this invention, and if some method can now be devised to overcome the necessity of passengers standing in the aisles, it will be possible to learn at any moment, from the seats, just where your car is. smoke, but also prevents the vessel from pitching in the high wind. The Ark is one of the curiosities of La Jolla-pro nounced La Hoya-California. TO CLEAN STAINED BOTTLES A GOOD way to get the stains out of bottles is to fill them half full of water and then put in a handful or two of cast iron borings, coarse ones preferred; shake well. It will clean any bottle no matter how badly it is stained. The boys in one shop use it for cleaning their tea bottles and it works all right. FLANGELESS CAR WHEELS THE accompanying photograph shows the under-car arrangements of a recent invention to do away with flanges on car wheels. The flat wheel of the coach can be seen at the right of the picture. In the center, at the bottom, can be seen the third, or middle rail, gripped by a pair of wheels whose duty is to keep the car on its rails, and, in case of electricpower, to transmit the current to the motors. The inventor has shown ingenuity, but fails to convince us that his device has any usefulness or purpose of any sort other than merely to be different from HOUSE THAT IS HALF AND HALF. thus be avoided. Dwelling that is part ship. built at La Jolla, California. The apparatus consists of an endless belt conveyor, which is movable and carries earth from excavation to wagon as the photographs show. A DRY-LAND CRAFT IN order to give the summer residents at the seaside a genuine deep-sea feeling, the builder of this quaint abode lent it a decided nautical twist. This lodge is known as "The Ark" and combines some of the advantages of both land and marine architecture; for instance, the brick chimney not only takes care of the existing apparatus. |