380 



Popular Science Monthly 



Clopperty, Clopperty, Clopperty! 

 The Hobby Horses Are Galloping! 



THE accompanying picture represents 

 the "field" just before the start of a 

 thrilling race between wooden mechanical 

 horses in- 

 ventedby Axel 

 Olfort, of Chi- 

 cago, the man 

 upon the white 

 racer, bearing 

 the number 

 twelve. These 

 remarkable 

 toy horses are 

 able to walk, 

 caper, gallop 

 and kick just 

 like live horses 

 and do not re- 

 quire any food, 

 a fact which 

 will be highly 

 appreciated at 

 the present time 

 with its ab- 

 normally high 



prices, by all owners of real horses 

 mechanism which enables the 



part of the framework for the body of the 

 vehicle, put it upon pneumatic wheels 

 taken from German machines, and to the 

 slender mast upon the front truck they at- 

 tached a sail patched together from 

 canvas stripped from the wings of a 



captured Ger- 

 man airplane. 

 Other French 

 aviators fol- 

 lowed their ex- 

 ample and 

 soon exciting 

 races in such 

 peculiar ve- 

 hicles became 

 a recognized 

 sport among 

 the daring 

 flyers enjoying 

 a brief respite 

 from their ar- 

 duous and 

 dangerous 

 work at the 

 front. 



SA I L-DRIVEN vehicles 

 have been in use in China 

 for many centuries, but their 

 use upon the fine roads of 

 France is rather a novelty. 

 Some of the French aviators, 

 in their eagerness to devise a 

 moderately exciting method 

 of spending their 

 leisure time while 

 on rest-leave behind 

 the lines, built for 

 themselves a sail- 

 driven vehicle out 

 of parts of German 

 airplanes that had 

 been brought down 

 by them. 



They utilized 



<Q) lul. Film 8erv 



The mechanism which enables the steeds to perform 

 is hidden, out of the way, in the bodies of the racers 



What Imitation Leather Is 

 Made Of 



tINSEED oil, certain paints, rosin, gum, 

 _j and a chemical treatment — and 

 we will have a compound as tough and as 

 durable as leather! Such are the won- 

 ders of modern chemistry; from sub- 

 stances inelastic and useless of them- 

 selves, valuable commercial articles are 

 being made. 



The process for producing this imita- 

 tion leather is based upon one discovered 

 as long ago as 1864. At this 

 time, Frederick Walton found 

 out how a durable and sanitary 

 floor covering could be made. 



The 

 wooden 

 steeds to perform their surprising move- 

 ments is hidden in the bodies of the 

 racers and acts upon the legs, which are 

 hinged to the bodies as shown. 



Sailing Over the Tempestuous 

 Macadam Road 



\ 



Land sail-boat 

 German airplane 



made from captured 

 materials and fittings 



This covering— the 

 forerunner of our 

 modern linoleum — 

 consisted of strong 

 canvas cloth cov- 

 ered with an oil- 

 a n d- r o s i n com- 

 pound heated and 

 hardened while ex- 

 posed to the air. 

 A modification 

 gives patent leather. 



