shelf of a large fret saw which proceeds industriously to shape them into violin. or guitar backs. The hand labor once The side strips, properly planed, are moistened and pressed over the cylinder, the heat of which bends them readily. THE FIRE SLIDE called for in carving out these important A SCHOOLHOUSE fire escape which and intricate curves may be imagined. Nearby stands a motor-driven planing appliance, hardly less indispensable. It is remarkably efficient consists of a metal chute with a smooth surface, set against the center of the building at an angle of forty-five degrees and extending from an iron balcony on the second floor to within three feet of the ground. During fire drill the children scramble out on the balcony, spring into the chute, and slide swiftly to the yard, where they alight on a sand pile. In order to break the force of the descent, the end of the chute nearest the ground is tilted slightly upward for a distance of about four feet, so that the child is thrown upward as he leaves the chute and drops easily into the yielding sand, somewhat shaken, but entirely unhurt. This device is inexpensive to install, as it can be made by any machine shop. The sides are formed of two-inch angle iron, while the trough, which is semicylindrical, is made of galvanized plates of iron. In the grammar school at Tropico, California, where this device is installed, about one hundred children were able to leave the upper story in less than a minute during the fire drill. STREET CARS CARRY MAIL THE street cars in three of our American cities are now equipped with letter boxes. This provision for the convenience of passengers has long been followed in England, where the scheme is more fully worked out. In Huddersfield, sixty of the regular cars are equipped with iron letter boxes. These are removed by the conductors upon reaching a central point and empty ones are substituted. Since mails at the central station are dispatched at hourly intervals, rapid communication is thus made possible. A feature of the plan that would hardly adapt itself to American transportation methods is that which permits. a person to hail a car in order to post a letter. For this privilege a fee of two cents is charged. The English system, which is carried on only as an accommodation to citizens and not as a source of revenue to the companies, gives the people in outlying districts the advantage of hourly mail collections. the beard in saw fashion. About one hundredth part of a horsepower is required to operate the device and it is hoped to get a motor that will give the needed power in a small volume. HORTICULTURAL FREAK A LITTLE willow tree, growing out of a stable roof in Pascola, Missouri, is considered a horticultural freak. It has weathered two winters, thrived during two summers, and though now in its third season is still flourishing. During an April storm over two years ago, a twig, blown from a large willow tree, lodged in a crevice under the eaves of a barn. No attention was paid to it for several weeks. Then it was noticed that, instead of withering, the twig had taken root and begun to grow. The source of its nourishment is a mystery to horticulturists. Although there is no visible evidence to substantiate it, observers are inclined to the belief that a stray root has found lodgment in a decayed timber which supplies nutriment for the curious little tree. PALMS CHANGE SITE WHERE DOES THIS TREE GET ITS NOURISH. MENT? MULTIPLICATION IN WHEAT WO palms weighing over sixteen IN Cambridge, Massachusetts, an ex Two tons each were recently moved, separately, across the city of Los Angeles by a team of twelve horses. The trees planted in 1864 by a child, now a prominent oil operator, have since grown to great size and beauty. Recent developments in real estate necessitated their removal, and they were sold. The price of removal was about six hundred dol lars. periment was recently conducted to ascertain the amount of grain that can be obtained from one parent seed. Twenty grains of wheat were planted and found to multiply into 709,701 grains. This process has long been known to the Chinese, who treat their fields like gardens. The seeds are planted in widely spaced lines on mellow land. The tufts springing from each seed are di His uniform consists of a small straw hat, a khaki jacket-there are no pockets in the jacket -and a "gee string". Trousers and shoes are never worn. He is armed with an army revolver. Inside the hat, which is held on by a string running around the forehead, are carried cartridges, leaf tobacco, matches, money, string, and sometimes a small hand mirror. Some of the ex-head-hunters are very vain. The brass pipe, which has a long stem, is carried, when not in use, behind the ear. The multiplicity of his duties seems not to worry this all-around official. Perhaps, however, he is not held to such thoroughness in their execution as are public officials in many other countries. Industry. Iron and copper were added to quantities of cream which were subsequently made into butter and put into storage. Observations showed the butter to take on tastes known either as "metallic", "oily", or "fishy". The effects of the copper were found to be stronger than those of the iron. THE POLICEMAN OF THE PHILIPPINES HAS VARIOUS DUTIES METALS INJURE BUTTER THE fact that some metals either cause or greatly accelerate certain bad flavors in butter was recently ascertained in experiments conducted by the Dairy Division of the Bureau of Animal These experiments are of value in that they show that if cream is kept in rusty cans or comes in contact with iron or copper at any time during the process of butter making, it may take up the iron or copper from the cans in sufficient quantities to affect the flavor of the butter. TOBACCO CROP USED AS FERTILIZER IN IN the tobacco districts of Kentucky the spring floods had the effect of returning to the land its output of a few weeks before. In Mason County the American Tobacco Company lost over two hundred thousand dollars by the flood ruining their tobacco. The useless product was then given to the farmers for fertilizing purposes. At Maysville, Kentucky, a farmer brought in an unusually fine crop of tobacco upon which he realized about fourteen cents a pound. Much of this crop was the fine leaf, closely resembling silk, used for cigarettes, and excited much comment because of its remarkable quality. The warehouse in which it was placed was inundated by the flood in the Ohio River, and the crop was hauled back to the fields to be used as fertilizer. THE ANTIQUITY LENDS ROMANCE TO THE MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO OLD STATE HOUSE HE famous old Governors' Palace out in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is being repaired and restored. When it is completed the Museum of New Mexico will have the most unique and memorable headquarters of any similar institution in the world. This celebrated structure, which covers a city block, was built in 1605. Its walls are still as solid as when they were put in place. Discoveries indicate that the Spanish Governors' Palace was built upon foundations and walls constructed by the Indians hundreds of years before. This peculiar "adobe-puddle work", as it is technically termed, is probably the most wonderful tribute to concrete construction on the American Continent. follow out the Spanish construction plan. The whole country is interested in the restoring of the old state house. HIGH FLAG POLE THE little railroad town of Timber, near the summit of the Coast Range in northwestern Oregon, claims to have the tallest flag pole in the world. The pole, which is reported to be about two hundred and ninetytwo feet in height, consists of an immense Douglas fir tree which was spared by the axmen when the town was recently hewed out of the forest. The flag was hoisted by a railroad lineman who climbed the tree trunk with the aid of driven spikes and "climbers". At the top he affixed a pulley, and his assistants hoisted a twenty-two foot pole which he attached. to the tree. The tree measures about seven feet in circumference at the base. It is said that the the little town takes AND NINETY-TWO great pride in the height of the pole and contrives to fly a flag on all possible occasions. The children acquire this spirit along with their thrills of patriotism and gaze in admiration at "Old Glory". |