PATENTS. 



621 



Klcrtriml Canal Boats. The Governor of 



the Statf nf Ni-w York has interest ed himself in 

 n, ill-vice intended to introduce electricity as the 

 motive power on State canals, instead of the 

 slower-going and more expensive horses and 



ELECTRICAL TRACTION FOR CANAL BOATS. 



mules hitherto employed. The device is in effect 

 the familiar one of the trolley wire set up along 

 the towpath, the contact being made on the 

 upper side of the wires, and the traction per- 

 formed by a submerged cable lying along the 

 bottom of the canal and taken ' up and passed 

 over a pulley or drum attached to the bow of the 

 canal boat and actuated by electricity. This has 

 already been practically accomplished in an ex- 

 perimental way by a German engineer, but so 

 far as we know actual experiments are as yet 

 wanting in this country. 



Rope-Holder. A very simple device for 

 shortening and firmly adjusting the length of 



a rope has been 

 made by Ephraim 

 T. Rugg, of Alex- 

 andria, Ohio. As 

 shown in the illus- 

 tration, it is sim- 

 ply a metal plate 

 with three per- 

 forations loosely 

 fitting the rope on 

 which it is to be 

 used. It is obvious that when the rope is ad- 

 justed as shown, no slip is possible. 



Package-carrier for Velocipedes. The 

 simple device of a small net or hammock sus- 

 pended between the handles of a crossbar has 

 been patented. This, or something so very like 

 it, has been in use so long among wheelmen that 

 it. is incredible that it should be capable of 

 efficient protection under the patent laws. (Pat- 

 ent No. 479.069.) 



Ice Velocipedes. Stimulated by the grow- 

 ing interest in ioe yachting, inventors have taken 

 up (lie subject of mechanical propulsion. Sev- 

 eral patents have lu'.-ii issued in this direction, 

 hut. so far as known, no very surprising speed 

 has as yet been attained. The propelling force is 

 furnished in most cases either by toothed wheels 

 or by what may be termed a kicking or thrust 

 motion delivered liy mechanical connection with 

 treadles. There seems to be no reason why. with 

 proper multiplying gear, very high rates of 

 speed should no't be attained with machines of 

 this kind. The speed of the ice yacht is due 



nOPE-HOI.DEK. 



merely to a constantly applied but not neces- 

 sarily powerful wind impulse, and mechanical 

 appliances should at least approximate the same 

 result. 



Protection against Frost. A Califomian 

 planter, Everest by name, is credited with hav- 

 ing invented an effective method of mitigating 

 the cold that is so destructive to fruit, etc., in 

 semitropical climates. An iron tank, of about 

 100 gallons capacity, is provided, and oil is al- 

 lowed to drip slowly from distributing pans into 

 pans set at 20 feet intervals among the trees. 

 The oil is fired in the pans, and the drip is so 

 regulated that, the blaze is constant, creating a 

 dense smoke in itself a potent shield against 

 frost. Besides this, the direct heat of the blaze 

 works to the same end. The cost of plant per 

 acre is about $25, and the expenditure per night 

 of frost about $7 worth of oil. 



Coffee-Strainer. A verv simple and scien- 

 tific coffee-pot attachment, the invention of Rob- 

 ert S. Randall, of Newark, N. Y. The direction 

 of currents in boiling water is indicated by the 

 arrows in the illustration. There is a just preju- 

 dice against boiled coffee, but with this inven- 



COFFEE-STRAINER. 



tion the coffee is properly percolated or strained, 

 the water passing repeatedly through it, and yet 

 the coffee itself is not subjected to the direct 

 boiling action of water. The device can be 

 used in any ordinary coffee-pot or other similar 

 utensil. 



Bedbug-Trap. As described in the patent 

 claim, this invention is " a block of wood, tri- 

 angular, or approximately so, in shape, sawed 



BEDBUG-TRAP. 



across the grain, and having parallel saw-kerfs 

 therein extending in the same direction, the cor- 

 ners of said block being left uncut." The evi- 

 dent design is to place the blocks at the bed 

 corners, where the saw-slits will afford a tempt- 



