Popular Science Monthly 



113 



r 



The Problem of the Sloping Shoulder 

 Solved with a Plumb-Line 



TAILORS admit that the sloping shoul- 

 der presents a problem. To solve that 

 problem an Indiana tailor has in- 

 vented a contrivance of as- 

 tonishing simplicity. 



An angle - shaped piece 

 of steel is fitted against 

 yourshoulder. Aplumb- 

 line is suspended from 

 the upper branch of the 

 piece. When the lower 

 branch is pressed down 

 snugly against the 

 shoulder, the bob will 

 be displaced along the 

 lower branch. Lines 

 are marked on the lower 

 branch and by reading 

 the figures on the line 

 opposite which the bob 

 stops the angle at which 

 the shoulder slopes is 

 instantly obtained. 



The angle-shaped piece of steel is made 

 to indicate the degree of the slope 



A Friend of the Traveling Shoe Salesman 

 Must Have Invented This 



THE illustration on the right seems to 

 depict the dire extremity of a pedes- 

 trian caught out in a "soaking" 

 rain; but it is really a device 

 which might be utilized to 

 advantage in such a storm. 

 It is an arrangement by 

 which the sole of a shoe 

 may be detached 

 and another substi- 

 tuted without spoil- 

 ing the appearance 

 of the shoe. Where 

 the traveling sales- 

 man of shoes has 

 many sample styles 

 to carr>% the weight 

 of his stock becomes 

 a feature to reckon 

 with. But with this 

 device he need carry 

 only one upper and 

 various soles, 

 equipped with the 

 screweye and socket 

 plates as shown in 

 the picture. The 

 plates may be used 

 by the layman also. 



. Two sets of plates having screweyes fitted 

 to sockets are attached to the shoe, one set 

 being at the heel and the other at the toe 



Making Imitation Leather from 

 Paper Preparations 



A GERMAN firm has succeeded in pro- 

 ducing from paper pulp an imitation 

 leather, which is to all appear- 

 ances and for specific purposes 

 as attractive as the real 

 article. Long-fibered paper 

 of the necessar\- thickness 

 is used as the founda- 

 tion. This is reduced 

 to pulp and tinted, 

 glycerin being added 

 to the coloring sub- 

 stance to give greater 

 flexibility to the paper. 

 After this it is made 

 water-proof by a treat- 

 ment with a weak solu- 

 tion of borax or of 

 shellac in wood alcohol. 

 To get the actual ap- 

 pearance of leather, a 

 piece of morocco or 

 other real leather of 

 beautiful grain is select- 

 ed for use in making the 

 matrices in which the 

 artificial product will be pressed. 



The impression of the grain is made by 

 coating a cast-iron plate with shellac lique- 

 fied by heat, and pressing against it the 

 real leather which is to be the 

 pattern of the grain. When the 

 shellac is cold the leather is 

 drawn off and the matrix is 

 ready for impressing the 

 previously prepared 

 paper mass. After the 

 graining, the sheets 

 are lacquered and 

 varnished. 



Another German 

 manufacturer has a 

 plan for rendering 

 the paper-leather 

 soft and pliable. He 

 passes it through a 

 bath of glycerin 

 mixed with nondry- 

 ing oils, such as castor 

 oil, before subject- 

 ing it to the final 

 wet press. 



There are other 

 similar inventions, 

 so that leather from 

 paper may soon be a 

 common commodity. 



