104 



Popular Science Monthly 



M 



The two photographs are pa^i^i -Uo^i.i^i in 

 that their edges register exactly with the 



What Now? Has the Ocean Broken Loose 

 and a Steamer Lost Its Way? 



WE have read of the boat traffic on the 

 streets of Venice, and have seen 

 many interesting pictures, beautiful ladies 

 and picturesque troubadours stepping di- 

 rectly from their doors into their waiting 

 gondolas, but it remained for a Detroit 

 photographer to give to the world a series 

 of pictures of a steamer making its way 

 through the street of a great city and of the 

 ocean lapping the curb of a New York 

 city street. 



The pictures were not bona-fide 

 photographs, however, but were 

 the result of a very clever and 

 legitimate trickery, which is 

 simplicity in itself. To secure 

 such a result as the above, he 

 took separate photographs 

 of the street scene and water 

 scene which he wished to be 

 combined. The water scene 

 was then so cut that when 

 placed upon the street scene its 

 edges registered exactly with the 

 curb lines. The water scene was 

 pasted upon the street scene, and a 

 fine spotting-brush was used to cover up 

 any defects. When a photograph was taken 

 of the composite picture thus produced, 

 the above effect was the result. Boys 

 swimming about in the water made the 

 scene still more puzzling. The idea is capa- 

 ble of a wide variety of applications, which 

 will only too readily suggest themselves to 

 the photographic trickster. 



such a way 

 curb lines 



Change Your Motorcycle 

 into a Motor-Raft 



NY amount of sport can 

 be gotten from a motor- 

 raft, and for those having a 

 motorcycle, it is a simple 

 matter to make the trans- 

 formation. The engine of a 

 motorcycle is particularly 

 adapted for such work, al- 

 though any similar engine can, 

 of course, be used. The raft 

 shown in the accompanying 

 illustrations was made by 

 J. Dutton, a British soldier, 

 serving in the present cam- 

 paign in Africa. Being of a 

 mechanical turn of mind he 

 made it during the hours when 

 he was off duty. When his 

 vacation came, he spent three 

 weeks in exploring the tropical rivers. 



He mounted the one-cylinder engine of 

 his motorcycle near the front of two pon- 

 toons which he made by soldering together 

 a number of tins in which gasoline was 

 supplied. To two eight-foot lengths of 

 these, he soldered a bow and a stern which 

 he formed from other tins. The propeller- 

 shaft is carried under the platform fastened 

 between the tops of the pontoons, connec- 

 tion being made with the propeller through 

 a universal-joint of the kind used on 



automobiles. 



The raft is light and it 



can be easily carried 



past falls or from 



one lake to another 



near it. It is strong 



enough to carry 



supplies for a 



long trip. 



The motorcycle-raft can sustain great weight 

 so that supplies can be carried for a long trip 



