564 



Popular Science Monthly 



t^:i^epor^'i:^!:oTo?s-c'--xr>^^^^^^ 



A Grass Bridge. A Remarkable 

 Feat in Civil Engineering 



SINCE bamboo is a grass the bridge il- 

 lustrated is literally a grass bridge, its 

 supports consisting of thousands of bamboo 

 poles tied together to form a temporary 

 falsework. The intricate structure is the 

 work of Japanese bridge builders who were 

 obliged to construct the bridge without 

 interfering with railroad passenger and 

 freight traffic. Because lumber is scarce in 

 Japan the engineers had to rely upon the 

 serviceable bamboo. 



The bridge is four hundred feet long and 

 one hundred and twenty-five feet high. As 

 will be seen in the photograph the two 

 masonry bases of the bridge are already 

 completed. Two steel members already 

 span the canyon, supported by the bamboo 

 poles. The largest pieces of wood to be 

 used in the construction of the bridge are 

 those forming the superstructure— round 

 poles supporting the weight of the top steel 

 beams. When the steel bridge was com- 

 pleted the bamboo falsework was taken 

 apart and removed to the next bridge- 

 building job. Bamboo is a long wearing 

 material so that the framework may be 

 used over and over again. 



A New Use for Rhubarb. You 

 Can Clean Pots with It 



ALUMINUM has won the housewife's 

 . endorsement as a most satisfactory 

 ware for kitchen utensils. But the kitchen 

 maid is not so well pleased with it. Its 

 beauty lies in its brightness, and when it is 



discolored, "Madame" is so particular about 

 how It is cleaned. If it is scoured, care 

 must be taken that it is not scratched in the 

 process. 



Scraping must always be done with a 

 wooden spoon since aluminum is soft and 

 scratches easily. Strong alkalis are not 

 available because they attack and dissolve 

 the metal. Only mild soaps must be used. 

 How then can that horrid discoloration be 

 removed? It is very simply done. 



Take a piece of rhubarb, either fresh or 

 canned, cut it into small pieces and boil 

 the pieces in the discolored kettle until it is 

 clean. The acid of the rhubarb will 

 remove the discoloration without in any ! 

 way injuring the metal. " Of course the i 

 rhubarb used for the purpose must be i 

 thrown away afterwards. When a vessel ; 

 has been cleaned in this way ijt will need ^ 

 only a little rubbing up to secure a bright 

 metallic surface. 



