152 



Two strips of strong paper are an effective 

 means of protecting a mirror from breaking 



How to Pack Mirrors to Prevent 

 Breaking 



WHEN mirrors are to be stored or to 

 be shipped by mail, they may be 

 securely packed in the following manner: 

 Carefully paste two strips of stout brown 

 paper diagonally across the mirror, as 

 shown in the illustration. In the case of 

 very large mirrors, use several strips of 

 paper. Then wrap carefully in heavy 

 Manila paper.— G. H. Holden. 



A Clothes-Line Prop That Will Not 

 Drop or Slip 



AN improvement over the ordinary 

 clothes-line prop is shown in the ac- 

 companying figure. It is made of spruce, 

 i}i in. by 2 ins., and as long as needed. 

 A hole is cut at the top, as shown. 

 This allows the user to raise or lower the 

 line without allowing the prop to fall. 

 Yet it can be detached readily. The 

 slanting cut at the bottom prevents 

 slipping on the ground and the point 

 may be shod with a piece of hoop- 

 iron. — J.\MES E. Noble. 



Popular Science Monthly 



A Hoop with a Guiding Hub 



THE attached drawings illustrate an 

 improvement over the old-style 

 hoop. 



Instead of a plain hoop, four spokes 

 with a hub are added, and in place of 

 the plain, straight stick, for giving the 

 hoop motion, a stick with a slight up- 

 curve at one end is used. 



This hoop may be started from the 

 hand as well as stopped and picked up 

 without stooping, and is at all times 

 under control. Motion to the hoop is 

 given by pushing it along as shown at 

 the left in the illustration below. A 

 straight view of hoop, with a notch for 

 the stick on either side of hub, is also 

 shown, as well as the method of hold- 

 ing, starting and picking up the hoop 

 bv means of this curved stick. 



This prop is stable yet detachable 



A piece of hoop-iron strengthens the lower 



end. An L-shaped notch at the upper 



end holds the line securely 



An ingenious hoop has a hub for guiding 



Wood Blocks for Flooring 



CREOSOTED wood blocks, already 

 extensively used as paving material 

 for city streets, have been coming into 

 use as flooring for the last four or five 

 years. Durability, noiselessness un- 

 der heavy traffic, and sanitary properties 

 are chief advantages for paving and 

 also give special value for making floors, 

 especially for use where heavy trucking, 

 the moving of hca\>- machinery, or other 

 severe use makes the maintenance of 

 floors a serious iirohlem. The rather high 

 cost is the chief disaihantage in the use 

 of wood blocks. 



Wood blocks are now widely used for 

 flooring in factories, warehouses, ma- 

 ( liine shojis, foundries, various types of 

 platforms, whar\es, and docks, and for 

 such miscellaneous i)urposes as hotel 

 kitchens, hospitals, laundries, and slaugh- 

 ter houses. 



