PAT! 



707 



Hallway Appliances. <>ne of the great 

 dilliculties encountered by railroad men in grax- 

 iiiu r ' -on n trio \\hei e fences are lOSfoe and cattle 

 aliinnlant arises from (In- |>ri>|>ciiMtv (!' animals 

 t.i stray nut of the highways or out ol their 

 proper pastures and wander along tin- railroad 

 I rack. KMTV one who lias traveled much on 

 such line.- has witnessed lite stolidity with which 

 ti hen I of co\vs, or a single animal even, will 

 watch the approach of a shrieking locomotive 

 and stand placidly in front of it, chewing her 

 rud or resolutely refusing to get out of the way. 

 \V. -I. Ilurk, of Seattle, Wash., has devised a 

 steam jet connected with the engine, so arranged 

 that by very simple mechanism an engineer can 

 send a stream of hot water to a considerable dis- 

 tance in Iront of the cow-catcher of his locomo- 

 tive; such a discharge WOllid, Of course, cllect- 

 ively frighten any number of cattle without 

 seriuusly injuring them. 



Another device is intended to render it im- 

 possible for cattle to pass any barrier, such as a 

 fence or a ditch, by following the track. The 

 ordinary plans, unless elaborate and expensive, 

 have proved ineffectual, -the stupid cattle ex- 



for soap, scrubbing- brush, cloth, etc. The 

 device 1-ncin -ulur flu-It, with Molted projection-, 

 fitting over tlic edge of the pail, and extending 

 downward Milliciently to insure a M-cun* hold. 



Curtain Ring*. The very general intn-diic- 

 tion of curtains ami jjurtun-a in household 

 decoration hassiig- 

 geMcd to N. H. Al- 

 len, of New York, 

 the application of a 

 device lor curtains 

 that has long been 

 in use ainoni; sea- 

 man, namely, rings 

 to which small roll- 

 ers are fitted, so 

 that in moving the 



Ki(i. U. CATTLE GI-ARD. 



hibiting a highly creditable degree of ingenuity 

 in overcoming barriers that would seem to be 

 effectual. In this device (Fig. 9) a series of bars 

 of thin iron or steel are placed upon their edges 

 parallel with the rails; they are notched into 

 cross pieces so us to prevent displacement, and 

 in order to avoid possible injury they are spaced 

 so closely that no animal can get its feet caught 

 between them; moreover, they are made of 

 unequal height, so that a secure footing is im- 

 possible for any hoofed animal. It is claimed 

 that no animal can be induced or forced to trust 

 itself to the ,treacherous support offered by this 

 guard, one great advantage of which is" that 

 it requires no costly excavation beneath the 

 sleepers. 



Attachment for n Pall. Every one must 

 have noticed the difficulty that the housemaid 

 experiences in carrying her scrubbing-brush, 

 pail, and soap from one place to another. Will- 

 iam P. A. Scott, of Pennsylvania, has patented 

 a simple attachment that can be placed upon 

 the edge of an ordinary pail and used as a recep- 



passing along the rod. This device is shown in 

 i-'ig. 10. Similar devices, already referred to as 

 in use among the seamen, are called "pearls." 

 .1 shows the rings in use, fitted with the attach- 

 ment, and li the ring separate from curtain and 

 rod. The attachment is of thin sheet metal, 

 fitted to the shape of the 

 inner surface of the ring, 

 to which it can readily ! 

 attached by slightly spring- 

 ing the metal. In place 

 of the ordinary pearls are 

 fitted small antifriction 

 rollers, the bearing surfaces 

 of which rest upon the face 

 of the rod upon which the 

 curtain hangs. 



Cooking rtensll. 

 Many devices are in use to 

 facilitate the heating of 

 water and the like over 

 ordinary gas fixtures. An 

 improvement in this di- 

 rection has been patented 

 bv Whit field Ward, of New 

 York. A circular opening 

 is cut in the lx>ttom of an 

 ordinary stew-pan, and to 

 this is soldered a conical 

 hood, rising within the pan. Within this hood 

 is a perforated cylinder, which is held in 

 tion by a perforated ring 



flush with the bottom of ^^ 



the siew-pan.. The illus- ^^ 



t rat ion (big. 11) shows the 

 utensil in section. When 

 it is placed upon the gas 

 fixture the burner n-ts 

 within the perforated hood, and the utensil is 

 thus held securely. The i:as being turned on 

 and Hirhted. burns only when it comes in con- 

 taci with the air below the perforated hood. 



Yeast Cnke.--.Ioshna Marnes, of New York, 

 has secured a patent for what is termed a " sugar- 

 coated yeast cake." The term must be regarded 

 as technical, since the coating is not distinctively 

 composed of sugar, but of some Impermeable 

 gum. The invention is valuable ii, that it pre- 

 serves- fop an indefinite j>riod the domestic or 

 dry yeast cake, which ordinarily can I*? kept in 

 a serviceable condition only a few weeks at most, 

 and only a few days where the conditions are 



Fio 11. 



