Popular Science Monthly 



255 



A Puncture-Proof, Bullet-Proof, Blow- 

 out-Proof, Skid-Proof Tire 



FROM Washington there comes the 

 photograph which is reproduced here- 

 with, showing a Seattle citizen's ideas on 

 keeping pneumatic tires out of harm's way 

 and yet getting a little more service 

 from them than could be obtained 

 if they were locked up in a dark 

 room in an atmosphere of nitro- 

 gen. To accomplish his pur 

 pose the inventor uses ioo to 

 150 pounds (estimated) of a 

 "special grade steel" for each 

 tire, which might seem ex- 

 cessive to the ordinary 

 mind, but, having done so, 

 he has the satisfaction of 

 announcing that the tire by 

 this heroic means is rendered 

 non-skid, puncture-proof, 

 bullet-proof — "of great bene- 

 fit to the warring countries" — 

 stone-bruise and blowout-proof 

 and is endowed with four ordi- 

 nary rubber-tire lifetimes. In- 

 cidentally, in case that anybody 

 should venture to place a wagon- 

 wheel steel tire in bold competi- 

 tion with his invention, he assures you that 

 it will wear out three such, this referring 

 perhaps mainly to a special type of his pro- 

 tector which he has taken the extra trouble 

 of devising for "un-inflated" rubber tires. 



Encased in this armor 

 a tire should have a 

 chance to die of old age 



The question arises : Given leeway to use 

 100 pounds of extra material, could a tire- 

 maker produce anything better than this 

 protected tire? The inventor apparently 

 challenges them, one and all. He bravely 

 uses thirty-six steel spacers draped around 

 the tire six inches apart, and on this for- 



midable base he strings about thirty 



feet of heavy coil springs and forty 

 feet of lighter grade, whereas one 

 lock, three clamps and twelve 

 rods with threaded joints 

 serve to hold the armor so 

 formed tightly against the 

 heaving breast of the poor 

 tire, ordinarily so much 

 abused. Springs are springs, 

 he reasons, and keep the 

 natural resilience of the 

 tire unimpaired, even if 

 expected to work crosswise. 

 Careful inspection of his 

 photograph reveals, however, 

 that steel rope is used instead of 

 the lighter coil spring along the 

 least visible portion of the cir- 

 cumference, but this is ap- 

 parently an emergency arrange- 

 ment for publicity purposes 

 only. 



The spinal column of the whale mounted for exhibition at 

 Monterey consists of forty-six sections. There are fourteen ribs 



How Monterey Turned a Whale into 

 One of the City's Sights 



MONTEREY, California, 

 has solved the question 

 of what to do with a stray 

 whale that is washed up on 

 shore. After disposing of 

 the flesh and oil to a refinery, 

 the bones may be mounted 

 on shore and kept as a 

 permanent natural history 

 exhibit. 



That is what the city 

 officials did with a whale 

 which was washed ashore 

 there. It was welcomed with 

 open arms and the bones 

 were saved as an educational 

 feature for the benefit of the 

 school children of the city 

 and for interested adults. 



Since there was no build- 

 ing available large enough 

 to accommodate it, it was 

 set up in an open lot and 

 fenced in. 



