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Popular Science Mnntlihj 



Trench-Dwellers Cherish the 

 Barber's Ministrations 



TRY to imagine yourself in 

 the place of a soldier who 

 has spent two or three weeks or 

 months in the trenches, cut off 

 from every comfort and at all 

 times exposed to the risk of being 

 killed or maimed by bullet, shell 

 or shrapnel. The excitement of 

 the first few days gradually wears 

 off; but the discomforts of 

 trench-life remain and become 

 more irksome from day to day. 

 Little rest, little food, no chance to bathe 

 or even wash, no opportunity to get a 

 shave or a haircut. Such is trench-life. 



Can you realize what it means to a 

 soldier who has gone through that life 

 for many days and weeks, when at last 

 he is relieved and sent to the rear of the 

 fighting line? A soldier's first thouhgt is 

 a bath, then a shave and a haircut, clean 

 clothes and a hot and plentiful meal. 

 Fortunate the man who has among his 

 treasured possessions one of those comfort 

 kits which, in a small compass and in 

 practical arrangement, contain all the 

 things necessary for a man's toilet: brush, 

 comb, scissors, razor, soap, talcum pow- 

 der, etc. The picture shows one of these 

 kits which is particularly practical because 

 it can be carried by a strap over the 

 shoulder. It is thus possible to get an 

 open-air haircut or 

 shave with all the ^ 

 necessary adjuncts, 

 though some of the 

 comforts of the city 

 barber shop may be 

 lacking. But the soldier 

 will scarcely mind this. 



89}) 



Check-raisers take notice. The amount to 

 be paid is cut out of a double row of figures 



Making Things Harder for the 

 Forger of Checks 



Trench barbering is frequently an outdoor operation. 

 Our pictures show procedure and comfort-kit con- 

 taining all the implements of the barber's trade 



N unusually clever device for pro- 

 tecting checks from being raised by 

 forgery has been invented by C. W. 

 Elrod, of Lincoln, Neb. The accompany- 

 ing illustration clearly demonstrates the 

 idea and its application. At the top of the 

 check is a double row of figures indexing 

 dollars, another double row indexing 

 cents. The figures representing the 

 amount of the check are cut out of that 

 double row of index figures in such a 

 manner that they appear on the little 

 triangular tabs which in cutting were left 

 attached to th^ check. The control-strip, 

 detached from the check and forming part 

 of the stub of the check, shows, cut out of 

 the first row of figures, the figures repre- 

 senting the amount 

 ^ of the check, which 

 may be identified by 

 the corresponding 

 figures in the second 

 row. The inventor 

 proposes to have the 

 paper of the checks 

 watermarked with 

 the words: "Only 

 good for amount 

 shown on margin," 

 as an additional pro- 

 tection against such 

 forgery. 



Those who have 

 been victimized by 

 .bank swindlers will 

 be glad of this in- 

 genious means of 

 protecting them- 

 selves hereafter. 



