Popular Science Monthly 



293 



such cameras are generally equipped with 

 two small spirit levels placed at right angles 

 to one another. These are neither ac- 

 curate nor easily read. At best the adjust- 

 ment of two right angle levels on top of 

 three legs is a slow process. The civil 

 engineers recognize this difficulty and make 

 their surveying instruments adjustable to 

 the level positive by means of four screws 

 instead of three. One of the camera men 

 has attached to his tripod-head a very 

 simple leveling device that anyone can 

 adjust without loss of time. It consists of 

 a brass tube rigidly attached to the under 

 side of the tri- 

 pod-head. The 

 brass tube is 

 about \ x /l in. in 

 diameter and 8 

 in. long and has cut in its 

 lower extremity some win- 

 dow-like apertures through 

 which the operator can 

 observe the position of the 

 plumb-bob hanging from 

 the center of the upper end 

 of the tube. The ease and 

 rapidity of adjustment of 

 the camera to level position 

 by observation of the plumb 

 is self-evident. 



To those who care to put 

 such a device on their cameras the following 

 suggestions and illustration may be help- 

 ful. The openings at the lower end of the 

 tube should be large enough to permit the 

 operator to see the plumb-bob easily and 

 determine whether or not it is hanging in 

 the center line or axis of the tube. The 

 plumb-bob may be a straight piece of wire 

 hanging freely from a ring support, which 

 must be placed in the exact center of the 

 upper end of the tube ; but even if a small 

 plumb-bob terminal is used for the sake 

 of appearance, the support should be a 

 wire so that it will not be likely to foul 

 as would a string or chain if the apparatus 

 should be inverted. — T. B. Lambert. 



Tube enclosing 

 the plumb-bob 



A Substitute for a Shoe Horn 

 in an Emergency 



ONCE when I had been in swimming 

 I found myself without a shoe horn, 

 but a friend showed me a little trick that 

 supplied my need. Simply fold your hand- 

 kerchief two or three times and lay it in 

 the shoe at the heel, holding one end of it. 

 As you press your heel down into the shoe 



gradually draw on the end of the hand- 

 kerchief, and when the heel is nearly all 

 the way down draw out the improvised 

 horn. The shoe will slip on the foot 

 easily. — A. A. Kelly. 



Preserving Surfaces from Which 

 the Paint Has Worn Off 



THERE are sometimes places on the 

 exterior of a house where the paint 

 gets worn off and which cannot be re- 

 touched without making a "botch job" of 

 it owing to the difficulty of mixing the new 

 paint to match the adjoining color which 

 has faded. To preserve the wood in such 

 spots until the house can be repainted, 

 apply two coats of linseed oil with a rag. 

 This will improve the appearance also. 



Repairing a Worn Plunger in an 

 Automobile Oil-Pump 



FREQUENTLY the cause of an engine 

 heating up rapidly can be traced to a 

 faulty oil-pump. This trouble was en- 

 countered in one 

 of the cars in our 

 garage and upon 

 examination it 

 was found that 



HEUCAL SPRING^b jo 



OIL PUMP, 

 PLUNGER 



Cap to lengthen worn 

 oil-pump plunger 



*_ bronze cap the oil-pump 

 Tffroi* PLJJNGER plunger was 

 badly worn. 

 This prevented 

 it from deliver- 

 ing the maximum 

 amount of oil to 

 the various 

 bearings. The 

 drawings clearly 

 illustrate the 

 cause of the 

 trouble. The 

 constant rubbing 

 of the hardened cam against the some- 

 what softer pump-plunger caused the 

 plunger to wear rapidly. This wear de- 

 creased the stroke of the plunger. 



The repair was effected by providing a 

 bronze cap to the plunger ; first to bring the 

 stroke of the pump back to its original 

 dimensions and secondly to provide adjust- 

 ment against wear. A shoulder was turned 

 at the top part and a small thread cut on 

 it. The cap was made from a cylindrical 

 bar of bronze and was bored out and 

 threaded on the inside to fit the threaded 

 portion on the plunger. — Adolph Kline. 



