452 



Popular Science Monthly 



automatically with the closing of the 

 door. This stop is clearly shown in the 

 illustration. 



A groove was cut lengthwise of the low- 

 er rail in the door, so that the upper edge 



III 



Garage 'V.i.'nWliii,',.: 

 door ■■■ 



Spring lo 



raise flao __, _ , ^_ , 



to'lorce 

 _ . _^ _^inposition 



Concrete floor"-^ 



Snow flop 



A swinging board at the bottom of a door. 

 It drops automatically as the door is closed 



of a board or flap would enter as shown. 

 This flap was hinged to the door and fitted 

 with coil springs back of it to raise the 

 board clear of the floor. A cleat was nailed 

 to the door jamb at an angle so that when 

 the door was closed the flap was pushed 

 down on the floor. — Harold V. Walsh. 



Exterminating Ground Hogs with 

 Explosive Fumes 



THERE are a good many ground hog 

 dens in my locality. The animals 

 are very bothersome to the farmers. I 

 discovered a very quick, cheap and easy 

 method of getting rid of them. 



I take a pole about the size of the big 

 end of a buggy whip and ten feet long. 

 To the end, I tie a stick of 40% dynamite 

 in which has been inserted a cap and two 

 feet of fuse. I light the fuse, push the 

 charge into the hole with the pole and 

 then fill up the end of the hole with dirt. 

 As it takes nearly a minute for two feet 

 of fuse to burn down to the charge, this 

 gives me enough time for the tamping. 



The fumes of dynamite are very 

 noxious. The explosion destroys the den 

 and the fumes asphyxiate the animals that 

 are in it. — Chas. P. Walters. 



Canvas Is Painted More Quickly 

 When Wet 



WHILE painting a heavy canvas 

 screen, a painter was interrupted 

 by a shower which lasted about a half 

 hour. After the rain had stopped the 

 work was resumed and the painter found 

 that the wet fabric took the paint much 

 more easily and quickly than did a dry 

 surface. Now when he has canvas to 

 paint, the material is first thoroughly 

 wetted and much time is saved. If the 

 canvas to be painted is large, he wets 

 only about 10 or 12 square feet at a time. 

 This is done to prevent the canvas from 

 becoming dry again before it can be 

 painted. — M. M. Clement. 



An Ingenious Carafe Used by the 

 Eskimo 



IN the north where it is almost always 

 cold, a device for providing drinking 

 water is made by hollowing out the top 

 of a block of ice and putting in it a bit 

 of moss, soaked in blubber and lighted. 

 The moss floats on the water that soon 

 is melted from the block. Then the Es- 

 kimo, to avoid the film of oil produced 



A bit of oil -soaked moss burning on an 

 ice cake provides the drinking water 



by this floating lamp, drinks through a 

 hollow bone, used as we use a straw. 

 This is a new way of combining the ele- 

 ments of an iced drink— letting the ice 

 hold the water. — Tudor Jenks. 



