FOR PRACTICAL 

 WORKERS 



i-rtgri 



A Small Backyard Searchlight Operated 

 from a Window 



IN most suburban towns the houses are 

 well lighted in front by street lights and 

 porch lights, but usually the rear is dark 

 and in shadow. It frequently occurs that 

 strangers and tramps prowl around — look- 

 ing for a place to sleep and sometimes look- 

 ing for an occasional chicken. They may 

 even go prospecting to see how easily a 

 house or barn can be broken into. A small 

 but efficient searchlight can be ver>' cheaply 

 made — provided one has electricity on 

 the premises. 



A small wooden bracket with a base 2 in. 

 wide and i in. thick having a quadrant 

 bolted at the 

 end is fasten- 

 ed to the side 

 of the window 

 as shown. On 

 this is fasten- 

 ed an electric- 

 light socket 

 with a metal 

 reflector 

 painted white 

 inside and 

 green out- 

 side. This is 

 connected 

 and adjusted 

 as shown by 

 means of 

 screwey es 

 and a cord, 

 and it is so ar- 

 ranged that 

 when the lever is pushed forw^ard the light 

 turns to the left, and when drawn backward 

 it swings to the right. The current is turned 

 on from the inside by a key socket. If de- 

 ired the cords may be brought inside and 

 he le\er so arranged that instead of 

 pushing forward and backward it is 

 thrown to the right or left, to operate 

 the light. 



The bracket can be tilted downward if 

 the light is set high on the house, so that the 



The swinging of the electric lamp directs the 

 rays to every part of the yard within its scope 



light rays will sweep the entire ground. A 

 45 -watt lamp will throw sufficient light loo 

 or more feet. The quadrant is the only 

 thing that needs particular construction 

 and it is best made of three pieces of )^-ih. 

 board in the shape of the letter D. Two 

 are the same size, about lo in. long on 

 the base of the arc and 6 in. the narrow 

 way. The third piece is of the same shape 

 but about 3^-in. smaller all around. These 

 should be placed with the small piece be- 

 tween the two larger pieces so as to form a 

 groove for the cord. There should be but 

 one staple fastening the cord in the center 

 of the outside cursed part. The arrange- 

 ment pictured will sweep through an arc of 



i8o deg., but 

 if the bracket 

 is placed on a 

 corner, it can 

 be made to 

 sweep two 

 sides of the 

 house or 

 through an 

 arc of 2 70 deg. 

 by simply 

 crossing the 

 cords and 

 widening the 

 distance be- 

 tween screw- 

 eyes. 



If the elec- 

 tric wire is 

 given enough 

 play, that is, 

 if it is left 

 swinging with one attachment near the 

 house, there will be no fear of loosening the 

 connections. — Ronald F. Riblet. 



A Mixture for Cleaning the Lighter 

 Colors of Paint 



A CLEANER for white paint, linoleum 

 and parquetry floors may be made as 

 follows: Boil together J^ oz. of white soap 

 in % pt. of water. Add ]/2 pt. of turpentine 

 to the soap and water, thoroughly stirring it. 



121 



