Popular Science Monthly 



665 



Constant Friction M^de a Freak 

 of Telegraph Key 



THE peculiarly formed knob in the 

 picture was taken from a telegra- 

 pher's key used continuously for fifteen 

 years by Mr. W. C. Staib, operator in the 



general offices of the ^ 



Lehigh Valley Rail- 

 road at South Bethle- 

 hem, Pa. It is true, 

 the knob is not of 

 stone, but of hard rub- 

 ber, and was not worn 

 by dripping water, 

 but by the fingers of 

 the operator, but, after 

 all, the cause of the 

 wear in the case of the 

 stone as well as in that 

 of the rubber knob is 

 the same — friction. 



Mr. Staib is suffer- 

 ing from operator's 

 cramp and can now use 

 but one finger in sending 



Banana Fiber Bags for Raw 

 Sugar Containers 



S^'.^ 



GAR planters in the Hawaiian 

 slands are facing a shortage of bags 

 used as containers for raw sugar. These 

 bags have been imported from Calcutta. 



, Recently machinery 



was sent to Honolulu 

 from the State of Wash- 

 ington for the purpose 

 of manufacturing the 

 bags from the fiber of 

 banana tree trunks. 



This key was worn out by a 

 telegraph operator's finger 



In the course 

 of time his finger, by constant friction, 

 wore a deep indentation in the hard 

 rubber, nearly penetrating it. The other 

 fingers of the operator's hand, rubbing 

 against the edge of the knob, wore away 

 part of it, gi"ving the knob an eccentric 

 shape. 



This is just another instance of how a 

 constant small friction will 

 wear out the hardest sub- 

 stances. Everybody knows 

 the time-honored anecdote of 

 the way the rims of the Eas- 

 tern wells are worn out by the 

 soft rope. There have been 

 many instances of the 

 remarkable effects caused by ■-. ,. 



constant friction, but that 

 of the telegraph key is --^ 

 unusual. 



Roller skates 



Making a Coaster 

 From Roller Skates 



DO boys like coast- 

 ing? Just ask 

 them, or what is even 

 better, watch them 

 when they have a 

 chance to give them- 

 selves up to that sport. Coasting on roller 

 skates is fun, but coasting on one of the 

 regular coasters with foot-board, steering 

 post and brake is, next to flying, pure 

 bliss. Emory S. Egge, of Montgomery, 

 Ala., who invented the coaster illustrated 

 by the accompanying diagram, has a 

 claim upon the gratitude of the boys, 

 for his invention will make it possible for 

 many who could not 

 afford high priced 

 coasters, to indulge 

 in the coasting 

 sport. The device 

 is extremely simple 

 and can be used 

 with any pair of 

 roller skates. The 

 skates are attached 

 to two blocks un- 

 derneath the foot- 

 board by strap and 

 clamps. The rear 

 block is fastened to 

 the footboard, and 

 the one in front to 

 the steering post. 

 The brake, a plain 

 lever arrangement, 

 is worked through a 

 slot near the steer- 

 ing post. 



Homemade coaster made from 

 board and pair of roller skates 



