AN UNDERFOOT N electric lantern designed to give light underfoot is a recent invention. The lantern uses an electric bulb on the bottom of the body containing the storage battery, with nothing below the bulb except a wire stand protecting the bulb when the lantern is set on the ground. The light is turned on when the bail is raised from one side, and is extinguished only when the bail is thrown over completely to the other side. The battery lasts from fifty to sixty-five hours. The lantern is especially suited for use by miners, contractors, and others whose work takes them into places where the footing is precarious, or where a hot flame would be dangerous, such as conduits containing gas pipes, or storerooms for petroleum products. The downward light is the only one fit to use on scaffolding, or near excavations. A REAL SPEED DEMON A LOW, rakish, snorting monster of the speedway may be made from the familiar Ford, at a comparatively low expense. In the particular case of rebuilding here described, the feat was accomplished largely by adopting an underslung frame. The engine was mounted on this frame at the usual height, and a special bonnet, with a Vtype radiator, was made to reach the extra length to the frame. The frame was made of steel, I-section, and in the rear was curved up and forward to the A "SAFETY FIRST" LANTERN This new device throws light downward, revealing dangers underfoot. seat, and when covered, formed the rear of the car. The space so enclosed above the transmission was just enough for the oil and gas-tanks. The steering post was sloped and lengthened, until it lay almost horizontally. Spare tires were mounted at the rear, and all the accessories, such as horn, pump, and so on, were displayed to give the best effect. The result of this rebuilding was a most formidable, and yet a thoroughly graceful racing body car. RACING CAR BUILT AT LOW COST By adopting an underslung frame, a V-type radiator, and a special bonnet, an ingenious builder created this most formidable-looking speed demon, from a standard light machine. The construction was made thoroughly light in every respect, so that the power of the engine would be sufficient to carry the new body at all practicable speeds. A Soft Answer IRRITABLE OLD MAN-"Say, does this car always make this racket?" CHAUFFEUR-"No, sir; only when it's running."-Buffalo Express. Of Course "WOULD you love me as much if father lost his wealth?" "He hasn't lost it, has he?" "No." "Of course I would, you silly girl." -Minneapolis Journal. The Price JEAN longed for a kitten. When illness made it necessary for Jean to go to the hospital, her mother said: "I will make a bargain with you, Jean. If you will be a brave little girl about your operation, you shall have the nicest kitten I can find." Jean took the ether, but later, as she came out from under the anesthetic, she realized how very wretched she felt. The nurse leaned over to catch her first spoken word. "What a bum way to get a cat!" moaned the child.-Harper's Monthly. Free Thought Vs. Free Labor "TOMMY ATKINS" pleaded exemption from church parade on the ground that he was an agnostic. The sergeant-major assumed an expression of innocent interest. "Don't you be Quite True THE good people of the church gave the poor children of the parish a bountiful New Year's dinner, and the delight of the youngsters was much more manifest than their table manners. One little fellow was discovered clutching a doughnut in one fist and a lump of steak in the other. He was reproved for his breach of etiquette and took the reproach very meekly. But a moment later he turned to the diner next him and remarked regretfully: "The trouble about these here table manners is that they was invented by somebody who wasn't never really hungry!" Fate of Many "DON'T you think the man who coaxes a girl to run away and marry him should be punished?" "I don't know that he always ought to be, but if she does it he is."-Houston Post. Why Worry? SHE was leaving the city for home, and by way of making her departure pleasant for those who had served her gave a nickel to a chambermaid, saying, "Mary, you take a nice ma'am; thank you, ma'am, but how will I get back?" lieve in the Ten Commandments?" he mildly long car ride." The maid replied: "Yes, asked the bold freethinker. "Not one, sir," was the reply. "What! Not the rule about keeping the Sabbath?" "No, sir." "Ah, well, you're the very man I've been looking for to scrub out the canteen." Thoughtful Child LITTLE GIRL (who has been sitting very still with a seraphic expression)-"I wish I was an angel, mother!" MOTHER "What makes you say that, darling?" LITTLE GIRL-"Because then I could drop INVALID'S BED SUPPLIES ALL WANTS AN invalid's or lazy man's bed is now being made. It is in the form of a davenport when closed, and when open, resembles an ordinary bed. The mattress is made in three sections. The bed is equipped with drawers, cupboards and receptacles for holding anything that is required by the invalid or lazy person. There are places for shoes, collars, ties, handkerchiefs, underwear, towels, napkins, hats, etc. A cupboard A cupboard is at one end for cooking utensils, and an electric cooker is attached. An electric button at the head enables the invalid to see the time at any hour of the day or night from a watch set in the foot board. There are cupboards in both the head and foot boards for hanging clothing. A looking glass is made in the top of the head board which raises up for shaving, with a shaving outfit in a receptacle near it. A place at the foot for magazines, books and any reading matter enables the occupant to enjoy the lonely hours. The bed saves a nurse, attending an invalid, an immense amount of running, since she can place everything and leave him for hours. The head and foot boards fit on a ratchet to the body and can be removed at will. The patent bed clothes clamp holds the covers on firmly. PRIZES FOR BRITISH AMBULANCE DESIGNS ENG 'NGLISH army officers have not been satisfied with the ambulances now being used, and as a result a prize contest is being held for new designs of automobile bodies for transporting wounded soldiers. A wealthy citizen has given ten thousand dollars to be used for prize money by a commission which has been appointed to work on the problem. Half of this sum will be used as the award for the best design. The competition is restricted to bodies which will fit several different makes of chassis with no material change in construction. Engineers expect that by adopting a design which is almost universal, they will be able to order bodies that can be built rapidly. The specifications of the English prize contest call for a car which will carry four men on stretchers in such a position that they can be reached by the doctors from both sides without being moved. When the war broke out, France was far ahead in the matter of conveyances for wounded, and had a remarkable ambulance that was both operating room for urgent cases and carrier for wounded who had already been given aid. The English hope to come closer to the French achievement. A MAN By RUSSELL H. McMILLAN DEVICE which destroys garbage as soon as it accumulates in the home has recently been invented by a New York man. It is in the form of a garbage crematory, which can be conveniently installed in either new or old buildings, residences, apartments, hospitals, or hotels, at the place where waste originates. It destroys by incineration all house, kitchen, or sickroom waste, wet or dry, animal or vegetable, before the waste has a chance to menace the health of the household. The machine generates about twelve hundred degrees of heat, but is so constructed, being lined with asbestos with an air space between the outer and inner walls, that radiation is reduced to a minimum. sterile ash, which may be dumped back in the hopper door on top of the following day's accumulations, and burned over and over for several weeks, thereby saving the trouble of taking the ash out of the house each time garbage is burned. The ideal place for the machine is in the kitchen, where it should be connected ABOLISHING THE GARBAGE MAN This new incinerator destroys refuse immediately, so there with the same flue that is connected with the range. Placing the incinerator in this position eliminates the necessity for all garbage cans and receptacles, as it is as easy to dump the waste right into the machine as into a pail. In case a machine is not filled up with one day's accumulations, it need not be operated then, but can be let go until the next day, or until it is filled. There is no odor from the garbage, either while resting in the is no reason why the offensive cans need remain a part of machine, or during city life. A householder whose residence is equipped with this contrivance is entirely independent of the garbage man. The cost of operation is very slight, five cents' worth of gas being sufficient to destroy a bushel of garbage in from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, depending upon the nature of the refuse. The residue is only a very small quantity of the process of burning, as a constant draft which runs through it carries up the flue any odor there might be. A useful adaptation of the machine is made in many apartment houses, by having garbage chutes leading to the basement, and installing a single incinerator there. |