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(Third Prize, Two Dollars) SELF-ADJUSTING WEATHER

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the door, unless a high threshold is provided, and that is a nuisance, because everyone stumbles over it. There is room for the cold wind to blow under the door for this reason-the door hangs plumb, while the porch floor always has a considerable slope. So if the door swings clear when open, it will be half an inch above the floor when closed.

To remedy this defect, take a stick of wood in thickness about three-quarters of an inch by two inches, and as long as the width of the door. Along one of its narrow edges make a saw-cut, and fasten a piece of rubber or leather as long as the stick into the cut by cementing or otherwise; or, instead, two smaller sticks may be screwed together with the rubber between them. Make two slots through the stick, crosswise, and pass a long screw, with a washer under its head, through each slot. Fasten these screws in the door about an inch from the lower edge, and leave them so that the stick may move freely up and down.

It will be found that this device adjusts itself automatically to the slope of the porch, and keeps out the cold very effectively.

(Third Prize, Two Dollars) MY FIRELESS COOKER

921

SOME time ago I made a fireless cooker

out of an old box and some asbestos matting, the heat being supplied by an electric iron. After putting an old wooden box, sixteen inches deep and twenty inches square, into good shape with hammer and nails, I lined it with asbestos to keep in the heat and prevent the wood from burning. I then made a tight-fitting cover and lined it with asbestos.

Next I made a shelf the same size as the box and covered both sides of it with asbestos. To this shelf I nailed two thin strips of steel across the grain to prevent warping, and drilled numerous holes through it with a half-inch drill to allow the hot air to circulate freely. This shelf I fastened eight inches from the bottom of the box.

On the bottom of the box I fixed two triangular blocks of wood covered with

asbestos. These blocks are to hold the iron in position, and complete the "cooker".

To use the cooker, place your electric iron upside down on the triangular blocks of wood and turn on the current to the required heat. Meanwhile, place whatever you want to cook in a dish or pan, cover with a similar dish or pan, set it on the shelf in the cooker, and shut the lid

THE ELECTRIC IRON SERVES AS THE HEAT UNIT IN

down tight. Then turn off the electricity and do what you like until dinner time,

and you will have the tenderest, juiciest roast you ever tasted waiting for you when you return.

After a little practice you will become expert in the matter of heating the iron to the right temperature to cook a given dish in a given time.

Alfred I. Tooke, Edmonton, Canada.

A

MAKING THE SHAKY STEPLADDER SAFE

(Third Prize, Two Dollars)

STEPLADDER SAFETY

SUPPORTS

CONSIDERABLE caution is required

in using a stepladder. A slightly swaying motion on either side while standing on one will cause it to tip over and pitch the occupant off.

In the enclosed sketch is shown a simple contrivance to prevent a stepladder from tipping over, and thereby render it safe when in use. Two wood supports of proper length are fastened to the back of the ladder by means of screws, on which they are made to swing outward. A cord or light wire chain connects the supports to the ladder.

When the ladder is closed up the supports are swung back on the legs. As the back of a stepladder is usually four to six inches shorter than the front, the ends of the supports, when closed down, will be about even with front legs.

(Second Prize, Five Dollars) LIGHT FROM ANY BATTERY

A POWERFUL light can be obtained

from a dry battery that has been worn out for almost any other purpose with the aid of a small tungsten electric light and a stamped metal handle and connection. A reflector of tin can be added and a small lens placed in front of the bulb, if desired. By pushing down the button marked A the piece of spring metal B is forced against the base of the light, thus completing the circuit. For use with a central pole carbon battery the connection can be made with the aid of the hole C.

A lamp like this can be carried in the automobile or motor boat and attached to

one of the ignition batteries when desired for use, or it can have its own battery always at hand. A remarkably strong light is given even with a low candle-power bulb. And yet not nearly as much room is taken up by the whole device as by a serviceable hand electric lantern.

R. D. Patterson, Brooklyn, New York.

Fibre Insulation

A

DRY BATTERY

THIS STRAP IRON DEVICE, WITH A BULB, MAKES A

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HANDY CLOTHES SPRINKLER

OBT BTAIN a bottle with a good-sized solid cork; also a very fine "rose" spray for a garden sprinkling can. Burn, or otherwise make a hole about one-quarter of an inch in diameter lengthways through the center of the cork. Push the neck of the spray into the cork to a depth of about onehalf inch. Fill the bottle with water, and fix the cork in tightly.

This device saves much time and trouble when dampening clothes for ironing, for it sprinkles the water quickly and evenly. The busy housewife will find it handy for sprinkling floors to be swept, or for watering the window plants, etc. The flow of water can be increased or diminished by tilting the bottle more or less.

Alfred I. Throop, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

(Second Prize, Five Dollars)

923

STOPPING THE SQUEAK THE "squeak" in shoes is caused by the inside and outside soles rubbing

together in walking. To overcome this disagreeable trouble make an opening at the edge of the inside of the shank of the shoe, and work a screwdriver between the soles to the tips, thereby loosening the inner and outer soles. Then work in a little French chalk, soapstone, or talcum powder through the opening. By bending the soles back and forth, or slightly tapping the edges, the powder will work itself between them. The opening can then be closed with one or two tacks, and the squeaking will be permanently stopped. Such an emergency repair is very much better than the soaking and oiling frequently resorted to, and yet does no harm to the shoes provided the job is done by a competent shoe repairer.

A GARDEN SPRAY AND A
BOTTLE MAKE A FINE
CLOTHES SPRINKLER

AIRTIGHT HEATER PUT TO MODERN USE

PROCURE a gasoline burner such as

is used by pop-corn venders and circus "spielers". For less than ten cents a day a large room can be efficiently heated by placing the burner within a little airtight stove and regulating the air supply. It is necessary to put a block of wood in the bottom of the stove to hold up the bend in the feed pipe from the supply tank. The cover should be kept on the stove after the burner has been lighted, although on mild days it can be left off and the stove used for cooking purposes. Such a burner can be procured very cheaply. A small stove of this kind can be bought for a dollar in most places. The bugbear of continual cleaning out of ashes and of building wood fires is completely done away with.

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(Third Prize, Two Dollars) MEASURING UP THE FIELD

MEASURING fields and lots is often a tedious job for the farmer or the real estate man, if he has to do it without an assistant, with a tape or a rod pole. A little triangular device, made of inch-square material, will greatly facilitate any task of measuring that may confront the individual.

Each point of the triangle projects a few inches, the lower two to stick into the ground and the upper to afford a handhold. The lower points should be spaced

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THE MEASUring Device

Count the number of turns as you walk along the edge of the field.

five feet six inches apart as that distance makes the most convenient tool. To measure a field it is only necessary to put one point in the ground, drop the second point, take a step forward, pivoting the tool on the second point, etc. One can walk the length of the field, counting each turn as it is made, and the task is completed. To put it into rods, divide the number of turns by three and the total is given as desired.

Newton L. Rideout, Garland, Me.

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Leonard J. Ross, Whitinville, Massachusetts.

(First Prize, Ten Dollars)
OIL BARREL BECOMES
CONCRETE MIXER

A SMALL concrete mixer for the

handy man about the house or the farm can be made of an oil barrel rigged on two standards connected by a steel shaft or an iron pipe. It is only necessary to bore holes in the barrel ends and to cut a hole in the side for a door. Water and cement are put in the machine in the proper proportions and the crank, on the end of the shaft, is turned by hand. The mixed concrete can be poured out of the door and placed in the forms which have already been prepared. As farmers are using concrete more and more for little farm devices the machine will be found to fill an important place.

THE HOMEMADE CON-
CRETE MIXER MADE OUT
OF AN OIL Barrel

This way of handling sand and cement will be found to be much more thorough than the hoe and shovel, besides being a quicker method when the device has once been made.

MADE BY OUR READERS

925

(Second Prize, Five Dollars)

SIDE-CLEARANCE "TELLTALE"

То

warn operatives hanging to the sides of a railway car of impending obstacles, such as posts, platforms, bridges, etc., a contrivance called the "telltale" has been invented by a veteran California railway man. To an iron post, set firmly in a cast base, insulated steel ribbon fingers are screwed, extending out twenty-nine inches and to within eight inches of any standard car which may be passing. The ends of the fingers are covered with cork balls, painted red. This signal is intended to be set at danger points, where the fingers would inevitably strike and warn any person clinging to the side of

which is applied to tell traffic, either ahead or behind, which way the machine is going to turn at a corner. The mag

TELLTALE FOR BRAKE-
MEN CLINGING TO
CARS

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nets are actuated by batteries and operate together when the driver uses the push button. Thus when he approaches a corner which he is going to turn, he pushes the left-hand button, the arrows point to the left as they are pulled to the new position by the magnets and stay there as long as the button is held down. When it is released no current flows and the arrows drop back to a position pointing either up or down to indicate neutral. Little electric lights are housed just above the arrows, so that the signal is illuminated by the battery cur

"GOING TO THE LEFT"

down to make changes in direction. It is now the custom in a great many cities for the driver to lean out of the car and extend his arm full length to indicate his plans, but this method has been unsatisfactory.

W. L. Scott,

Cincinnati, Ohio.

rent at night. The flash of the light and the movement of the arrows make an unmistakable signal day or night.

Most traffic accidents occur in the mixups occasioned by turning from one traffic stream to another, as in going around corners and in slowing

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