Popular Science Monthly 



265 



They look like 



Giant Mushroom Anchors for 

 Holding Buoys 



MUSHROOM ' ' anchors take their nam 

 from their shape, 

 mushrooms upside down. 



The mushroom anchor illustrated 

 was made by a prominent cast-steel 

 maker of this country for use by 

 the United States Department 

 of Commerce in lighthouse 

 service for buoys. Those 

 of this type weigh 5000 

 and 7000 pounds each and 

 are made entirely of cast 

 steel except the shackle 

 pin. They are practically 

 one piece. The buoys are 

 attached to these. The 

 anchor holds the buoy in 

 the location desired. 



The test to which these 

 anchors are subjected be- 

 fore acceptance by the 

 Government is extreme- 

 ly severe. Each anchor 

 is dropped on a steel 

 block from a height of 

 twenty-five feet. 



Should a fracture of 

 any kind appear as a 

 result of this test the 

 anchor is rejected. 

 Formerly these anchors were made of cast 

 iron but the Government's requirements 

 now demand steel because of t the severe 

 treatment to which they are subjected in 

 rough weather. 



The Rate at Which Food Prices 

 Have Advanced 



HOW much has the cost of food ad- 

 vanced? According to one of the 

 leading statistical houses of America, cab- 

 bage has gone up 850 per cent since last 

 year; onions, 



1,100 per 

 cent; pota- 

 toes, 280 per 

 cent; eggs, 77 

 per cent; beef, 

 20 per cent; 

 pork, 70 per 

 cent; butter, 

 30 per cent; 

 wheat and 

 flour, 46 per 

 cent; beans, 

 90 per cent. 



Stage 



•-gk -ml ^^ Air tut 



(J \J XJ •« 



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The brass and wind instruments in the orchestra are played by 

 compressed air instead of lung power and operated by one man 



The Compressed- Air Orchestra: 

 Human Lungs Give Place to Tanks 



IF the inventors have their way, musicians 

 will no longer need to blow their souls 

 into their instruments. The inflated 

 eye-ball, the puffed cheek, and all the 

 laugh-inducing mannerisms of the 

 men who play the wood and brass 

 instruments will become as history. 

 The flute will chirp, the saxophone 

 grunt, the bass horn growl, without a 

 musician's mouth at a single instru- 

 ment. Human lungs will not be need- 

 ed ; compressed air furnished by a mo- 

 tor and a pump will take their place. 

 The air, after being stored in a tank, 

 as shown at the right of the illustra- 

 tion below is led through a pipe to the 

 music stand and thence through an air 

 tube to the mouth of the instrument. 

 The musician takes his accustomed 

 place in front of his instrument, with 

 his foot on the air- 

 control pedal at the 

 bottom of the 

 stand. He plays 

 with his hands and 

 one foot. The air- 

 control pedal works 

 like the accelerator 

 of an automobile 

 engine; it enables 

 the musician to accurately regulate the 

 supply of air at all times. 



The inventor does not make any pro- 

 vision for tone shadings. Although he can 

 regulate the supply of air he can not give 

 delicate gradations of expression. Conse- 

 quently, music from instruments played by 

 compressed air will be more or less mechan- 

 ical. Moreover some brass and wood 

 instruments must be played by living 

 men, because the notes are formed by the 

 lips. But for certain well-defined purposes 

 and in places where the audiences are not 

 over-critical 

 the compress- 

 ed-air orches- 

 tra will prob- 

 ably prove as 

 popular as 

 the mechanic- 

 ally operated 

 piano. 



In this way 

 one musician 

 can operate 

 several in- 

 struments. 



Mushroom anchors are used in the lighthouse 

 service to hold buoys in place. They con- 

 tain from 5000 to 7000 pounds of steel each 



