Popular Science Monthly 



413 



An Overhead Trolley System 

 for the Hot Iron 



THE average housewife has already dis- 

 covered that the electric or gas iron is a 

 vast improvement over the other types 

 which necessitate walk- 

 ing back and forth be- 

 tvseen the iron-board and 

 the stove. But where 

 gas and "electricity are 

 not available it is still 

 possible to eliminate those 

 many steps taken during 

 the ironing process. 



By means of the trolley 

 system shown in the illus- 

 tration below the iron 

 may be sent back to 

 the stove when it is cold 

 and a hot one brought 

 in its place with "press 

 the button" simplicity 

 and rapidit>'. Moreover, 

 the iron is held at just 

 the proper height when 

 moved from it so that 



The fan turns or 

 stops with the fly- 

 wheel of the machine 



the hand is re- 

 no iron-stand is 

 necessary and all lifting is obviated. The 

 saving in energy' which this effects may 

 not be so apparent as the elimination of 

 steps, but it is considerable nevertheless. 



The iron is suspended by a rod from a 

 carriage which tra\els on a track supported 

 by t\vo end uprights, one of which (the left 

 one) has a spring which permits the iron to 

 be brought down to the job and forces it up 

 out of the way when the iron is released by 

 the hand. The rod from which the iron is 

 suspended can be adjusted to any height 

 desired, so that the iron can be used on 

 ironing-boards of all sizes and heights. The 

 inventor is W. H. Olver, of Oshkosh, Wis. 



A Fan on the Sewmg Machine 

 — A New Idea for the Factory 



ALTHOUGH the "sweatshop" is fast 

 l\ becoming nothing but an unpleasant 

 memory, even in the largest of cities, 

 yet the life of the sew- 

 ing machine operators 

 in factories is far from 

 enviable, especially i n 

 hot weather. Even if 

 electric fans are installed 

 throughout the place, 

 only the lucky- ones who 

 are located in the path- 

 way of the breeze are 

 benefited. But 

 ;:. Lyle D. Corey, 

 ofMinneapHDlis, 

 Minn., has evolved 

 a plan by which 

 each individual op- 

 erator may be kept 

 cool and as com- 

 *• ' fortable as possible 



during the sweltering heat. 



He has invented a fan which is attached 

 to the fl>-^vheel of the sewing machine. The 

 fan is composed of two circular rims, 

 betAveen which fan-blades are pivoted. 

 The inner rim is channel-shaped and fits 

 over the flN-vvheel. A lever and links are 

 provided for contracting the rims to fit over 

 the fly-wheel and for limiting the move- 

 ments of the fan-blades so that the air 

 currents may be controlled. The fan is 

 easily detached when not required for use. 



'RACK 

 RAIL 



The iron is suspended by a rod from a carriage whidi 

 travels on a track between the board and the stove 



Flmt-and-Steel — The Matches 

 of Yesterday 



BRANDON, a small town in Suffolk, 

 England, still supplies the world with 

 flint-and-steel tinder boxes, 

 which even the de\eloped fric- 

 tion matches of to-day have not 

 made obsolete. Elderly i^ersons 

 can still tell us about the time 

 when flint-and-steel were* uni- 

 versally used; when old rags had 

 to be charred for tinder, and 

 when the sparks had to fly to 

 get these to catch fire. Bran- 

 don flints have always been 

 justly famous. They were used 

 in the kitchens at home, and on 

 cannons in the wars. They saw 

 service at Waterloo, in the Cri- 

 mean War, and even as late as 

 in the South African campaign. 

 The first one was made in 1827. 



riAT i,tON 



