914 Popular Science Monthly 



Turning a Bicycle Into a Railway Making a Wind-Proof, 



A few turns 

 bicycle into i 



Hand Car 



"TT^LAG train No. 71, southbound, 

 X"^ before it crosses the creek and make 

 it back into siding to let southbound 

 Special pass." Such was the order con- 

 veyed by the ticker 

 in the little wayside 

 station. 



"By George," ex- 

 claims the station 

 agent, "this is an 

 ugly fix ! The creek 

 is five miles from 

 here and No. 71 is 

 due here in half an 

 hour." 



' 'Look here, 

 Jim," interrupts his 

 friend Harry; 

 "Tony is sick and 

 will lend me that 

 outfit of his. I can 

 hit it up some and 

 make the trip 

 easily!" 



Jim eagerly approves of the plan. 

 Tony consented to the loan and Harry 

 "hit it up" so thoroughly, that he reached 

 the creek long before No. 71 came in 

 sight. The danger of a collision was 

 averted. 



Tony's "outfit" was merely a bicycle 

 equipped with an attachment invented 

 by Agostino Rea, of Helper, Utah, which 

 makes it possible to run the bicycle on 

 railroad tracks. The device is simple of 

 construction and inexpensive. At- 

 tached to the axles of the wheels 

 of the bicycle are forked arms 

 provided with grooved trolley 

 wheels at their free ends. These 

 forks can be swung down so that 

 the trolley wheels engage the rail 

 and prevent the wheels of the 

 bicycle from leaving the track. A 

 long arm, with a roller at the free 

 end, is attached to the frame of the 

 bicycle. When in use, the roller 

 runs on the other rail of the track 

 and acts as a brace to maintain 

 the balance of the wheel. When 

 not needed, the arms with the 

 trolley wheels and the balancing 

 arm may be swung out of the 

 way and fastened. 



Rain-Proof 

 Chicken House from Piano Boxes 



WHEN the United States Department 

 of Agriculture is urging that every 

 back-yard be the home for a flock of 

 chickens, an inexpensive and novel plan 

 of converting two 

 piano boxes into a 

 poultry house be- 

 comes at once prac- 

 tical and advisable. 

 The two boxes 

 are placed back to 

 back, three feet 

 apart, the back and 

 top of each re- 

 moved, a frame for 

 roof and floor 

 added, and the part 

 between the boxes 

 built in with boards 

 removed from the 

 two boxes. The 

 house is covered 

 with roofing paper 

 which will keep out wind and rain. The 

 piano boxes can be purchased for $2.-50 

 each. The complete home for the poultry 

 can be built quickly and easily for $12. 

 It will comfortably house a dozen hens. 

 The rear window provides ventilation 

 and insures coolness in warm weather. 

 Windows can be used instead of solid 

 shutters so that the houses will be lighter 

 when closed. 



A door can be cut at the end, covered 

 with muslin to insure good ventilation. 



of the hand turned this 

 speedy railway hand car 



V 



fes-^^ "^ 



To insure dryness the boxes should rest on brick 

 supports and be surrounded by drainage gutters 



