Popular Science Monthly 



through connecting sticks of black powder 

 in the fuse body. The magazine connects 

 with the powder pocket at the center of 

 the base, from which the flash is trans- 

 mitted to the powder tube in a shrapnel 

 or to the corresponding "gaine" in 

 the high-explosive shell, which, 

 in turn, delivers to the main 

 explosive charge of the 

 projectile. 



The passage of 

 the initial 

 flash 



from the detonator to the powder pocket 

 in the base of the time fuse is varied in 

 length by adjustment of the time ring, 

 and the length of the powder train which 

 has to be consumed before reaching 

 the top of the powder tube or "gaine" 

 controls the instant at which a shrap- 

 nel will "break" or a high-explosive 

 shell will be shattered. The adjustment of 

 the time ring simply shortens the passage 

 by establishing short cuts between the 

 powder channels or increasing the distance 

 between points of communication. 



Should, by any mischance, the time fuse 

 element fail to work, the projectile will then 

 break on coming in contact with a rigid 

 object, through the action of the auxiliary 

 detonating element of the device. 



In the base of the mechanism is a second 

 detonator which is held in place both by a 

 stirrup similar to the one which holds the 

 time pellet behind the cap and the body of 

 the fuse and also by a coiled spring between 

 the holder of the detonator fuse needle 

 and the percussion pellet. On the projec- 

 tile striking a firm 

 object, the percus- 

 sion pellet with its 

 detonator is thrown 

 violently forward 

 against the de- 

 tonator fuse needle 

 and the resulting 

 flash is transmitted 

 immediately to the 

 powder tube or to 

 the "gaine," as the 

 case may be, — thus 

 avoiding the circum- 

 scribing powder 

 trains through which 







193 





Shrapnel with its rain of 

 balls, and high-explosive 

 shells with their burst 

 of jagged shell fragments 



the flash produced from the contact 

 of the time detonator and the fuse 

 needle must pass. 



Destructive as is the time fuse when 

 fitted to a projectile which leaves a gun, it 

 is comparatively harmless under ordinary 

 conditions, on account of the rigidity of the 

 stirrup holding the time pellet and of the 

 springs holding the percussion pellet. 



EVERY autoist will appreciate 

 funnel, invented by Walter W. 



Filling Up Your Automobile Tank 

 Without Spilling the Gasoline 



this 

 Er- 

 rington of Texas. It is an ordinary funnel 

 soldered to a plug which fits snugly in the 

 tank opening. The air valve, through 

 which the air in the tank escapes when the 

 gasoline is poured in is attached to this 

 plug, the valve stem and spring serving as 

 the funnel handle. When the gasoline 

 reaches the mouth of the spout, you simply 

 release your pressure on the spring to let 

 it close the valve. Immediately the flow 

 of "gas" into the tank is stopped because 

 of the air pressure. So you fill up the 

 funnel and then reopen the air valve. 

 All this can . be done 

 in about twenty 

 seconds. 



With this funnel 

 the autoist can 

 fill the tank of 

 his automobile 

 with gasoline 

 in less than 

 half a minute 



