244 



Popular Science Monthly 



The entire front axle, wheels, driver's seat, battery box, and 

 steering wheel are turned when this cotton truck rounds a corner 



Low- Bed Cotton Truck Steered by 

 Huge Bull Wheel 



THE motor truck for handling bales of 

 cotton, shown in the accompanying 

 illustration, is not steered by the turning 

 of the front wheels on their spindles. In- 

 stead the entire front axle, wheels, driver's 

 seat, battery box and steering-wheel mech- 

 anism is revolved in relation to the center 

 line of the truck. 



This is accomplished by placing the en- 

 tire front assembly, wheels 

 and all,within a huge internal- 

 geared bull wheel attached 

 to the side frames of the 

 truck. The front wheels 

 simply revolve on their 

 axle but do not turn in 

 relation to it, the steer- 

 ing of the truck being 

 done by turning the 

 front assembly with- 

 in the bull wheel by 

 means of a gear in 

 mesh with the teeth 

 of the former. 



Thanks to this 

 construction a truck 

 can be utilized 

 with a frame only 

 two inches from the 

 ground, yet it can be 

 steered easily and turned 

 in a remarkably short 

 radius. A low frame is ne 

 cessary to facilitate the lift- 

 ing of heavy bales. A truck of 

 this kind can carry an excep- 

 tionally heavy load. 



Rubber Instead of Glass Eyes 

 for Wounded Soldiers 

 ARTIFICIAL eyes of rub- 

 XJL ber are taking the place 

 of the old-style glass optic for 

 wounded soldiers in Europe. 

 The rubber eyes have the ad- 

 vantage of being unbreaka- 

 ble, and as they are of 

 pneumatic construction they 

 maintain an elastic contact 

 between the eyelids and the 

 back of the orbitary cavity. 

 To make the new rubber 

 product, a cast formed of 

 liquid plaster is made of the 

 orbitary cavity and from this 

 is constructed an eyeball, the 

 face being of vulcanite. The 

 front and back parts are 

 made of soft rubber, there being a space 

 between the two parts which is occupied 

 by air, making the eyes pneumatic. 



A Caliper That Makes Extraordinary 

 Measurements 



A THREE-PIECE caliper which looks 

 like an ordinary caliper bent back 

 upon itself is the invention of a Chicagoan, 

 Mr. Franklin J. Wolff. It consists of two 

 S-shaped pietes of steel pivoted together at 

 their centers, and a small ma- 

 chinist's rule pivoted to the end 

 of one of these pieces. The 

 cleverness of the caliper is 

 to be found in the manner 

 in which it can measure 

 both inside and outside 

 diameters which are so 

 obstructed that an or- 

 dinary caliper would 

 be worthless for the 

 purpose. For in- 

 instance, an ordi- 

 nary caliper could 

 never measure the 

 internal diameter of 

 the steam-valve body 

 shown in the illus- 

 tration; but the new 

 duplex caliper does this 

 very readily. When 

 the caliper is fully open- 

 ed, it is only necessary to 

 read the mark upon the 

 rule opposite which the 

 »,. . , . , ,. . , , pointed end of one of the 



This double-caliper can quickly c • <- rl f h 



make measurements where an- o-pieces Stops, ^^^ ^ tne 

 other would be worthless measurement is obtained. 



