Popular Science Monthly 



355 



Attaching cable 



^ Xoop of 

 "cable 



^- 



Top ridge of Kite 



HooK 



Eye on rod received Latch which 

 by a tube 



Rod and eye attached 

 to kite 



receives end of 

 rocker- arm 



€ 



■Top ridge of kite 

 Latch which 

 receives end of 

 rocker-arm 



Releasing Mechanism of 

 the Under-Water Kite 



The hook of a rocker arm enters 

 an eye in the end of a rod suspended 

 from the attaching cable of the kite. 

 When the arrow-shaped control 

 strikes a mine, the latch by which 

 the end of the rocker arm is held in 

 place is released. Hence the hootc 

 is withdrawn from its eye and the 

 attaching cable freed from the kite 

 so that the kite is suspended only by 

 the loop of cable. The sudden 

 slackening of tension on the cable 

 causes the bell on the ship to ring. 



companying illustrations 

 show, this under-water 

 kite consists of two pieces 

 of sheet metal joined together in the form 

 of a common barn roof. Suspended be- 

 low the under-water kite by three ropes, 

 is an arrow-shaped control which is 

 guided by a roof-shaped piece. If the 

 arrow-shaped control should touch a 

 mine, a latch by which the under-water 

 kite is attached to its cable is released, a 

 bell is rung on board the mine-sweeping 

 vessel, and the officer in charge is at once 

 warned that 



the tell-tale 

 below is in 

 contact with a 

 mine to be re- 

 moved. Very 

 slowly and 

 very carefully 

 the vessel ap- 

 proaches the 

 mine, raises 

 it to the sur- 

 face and then 

 steams away 

 again to a safe 

 distance. 

 Thereupon 

 the mine 

 becomes a 

 mark for the 

 gunners until 

 it explodes, 

 tossing to a 

 height of three 

 hundred feet, 



a great geyser of water. So terrible is 

 the explosion that the effect is felt in the 

 water within a quarter of a mile. 



In Case of Fire, Take the 

 Cornice Elevator 



WHEN afire occurs, 

 why not use a cornice 

 elevator instead of the 

 usual fire-escape? Extending 

 the entire width of the build- 

 ing, it could be lowered floor 

 by floor, permitting persons to 

 enter it through every win- 

 dow. Furthermore, a burning 

 building could be emptied in 

 one-half the time, and after 

 the cornice elevator had dis- 

 charged its human freight, it 

 could be used by the firemen 

 as a movable platform from 

 which to fight the flames. 

 Such are the uses to which the fire- 

 escape elevator may be put, according to 

 the inventor, Bernhard Sussis, of New 

 York City. In its usual position, it 

 serves as the cornice of the building. The 

 hoisting and lowering machinery which 

 consists of steel cables and drums and an 

 electric motor is all situated on the roof. 

 The elevator is operated from a control- 

 ling lever on the platform, moving up and 



down against 



an upright 

 pair of rack- 

 bars attached 

 to the side of 

 the building. 

 It is equipped 

 with guard- 

 rails, side- 

 chains and 

 steps. As 

 shown in the 

 illustration, it 

 looks almost 

 too ideal to be 

 practical. 



The fire-escape elevator is nothing 

 more than the cornice of the 

 building, raised and lowered in 

 the same manner as an elevator 



Sprocket wheel 



Cornice 



