Popular Science Monthly 

 Detecting the Undertow Before It 

 Catches the Swimmer 



DESPITE the precautions taken by 

 bathers and by beach resorts in pro- 

 viding safety lines, life guards, rafts and 

 boats, each summer season a number of 

 swimmers are swept to their death by the 

 treacherous undertow, which is 

 powerful ocean current which 

 goes seaward from a shore on 

 which heavy surf is breaking. 

 Ofttimes an undertow is 

 not -detected until one or 

 more swimmers disappear 

 from view. It may shift 

 from one part of a coast 

 to another, suddenly car- 

 rying away bathers from a 

 resort that is supposed to 

 be free from such danger. 



With an apparatus invented 

 by Martin M. Voorhees, of Oak 

 Park, Illinois, it is not only possible 

 to detect the presence of an undertow but to 

 send out a signal to the bathers so that they 

 may be warned in. time to return to shore. 

 As the accompanying illustration shows, 

 the inventor has designed a disk with a 

 ball lever which indicates the strength of 

 the undertow at all times. It is set in the 

 water, preferably at a point where the 

 water is dangerous for unskilled swimmers 

 to venture into. With a strong undertow 

 running, the disk, mounted on hinges, 

 swings outward, pulling a cable which is 

 attached to a signal post situated on the 

 beach. 



A pull on the cable accomplishes three 

 things: It causes the dial on the post to 

 register the force of the undertow: it rings 

 an electric 

 gong, and it 

 causes the in- 

 candescent 

 bulbs to light. 

 Persons hear- 

 ing the gong 

 ring or seeing 

 the warning 

 sign illumin- 

 ated are 

 thereby 

 warned 

 against re- 

 maininglong- 

 er in the wa- 

 ter in that 

 locality. 



431 



When an undertow is running the device rings a bell 

 and lights a warning sign telling swimmers of the danger 



The garage as it looks 

 when completed. 

 Double swing doors 

 admit the automobile 



At left: The frame- 

 work of the cathedral - 

 like garage. Sharp 

 angles are eliminated 



A Little Garage Built with the 

 Contour of a Cathedral 



THE Gothic lines which characterize the 

 garage here shown were not the result 

 of any religious fervor on the part of the 

 builder. They simply conform to a pop- 

 ular style of architecture now utilized in 

 barn construction in southern Canada. 



The absence of sharp angles and ugly 

 cornices forms a pleasing contrast to the 

 familiar style of garage which resembles 

 nothing so much as a huge packing-box 

 deposited in the rear of the house. 



Double swing doors are used, admitting 

 any automobile with the top up. With the 

 possible exception of the curved side pieces 

 this style of 

 garage is 

 easier to build 

 than the us- 

 ual type. Be- 

 cause of its 

 sloping sides 

 it does not of- 

 fer as much 

 resistance to 

 high winds as 

 the ordinary 

 garage, and 

 for this rea- 

 son is con- 

 sidered safer. 

 It has no 

 windows. 



