524 



Popular Science Monthly 



Nasty Job This- 

 Customers' 



-Cleaning 

 Ears 



EVIDENTLY the Japanese are a long- 

 suffering people. Take for instance 

 the docility of the 

 occupant of the 

 barber's chair in the 

 accompanying 

 photograph. He 

 has seated himself 

 there to get his hair 

 trimmed and will 

 pay the price, no 

 doubt. But as part 

 of the tonsorial op- 

 eration, the barber, 

 with a contrivance 

 somewhat like a 

 series of blunt knit- 

 ting needles padded 

 on the ends with 

 cotton, proceeds to 

 clean out the ears 

 of his patron. The 

 boy in the backv 

 ground illustrates 

 the oriental's fear 

 of the camera. 



Cleaning out the patron's ears is an im- 

 portant part of the barber's duty in Japan 



Pulling and Pushing to Make 

 the Swing Go 



BECAUSE it was impossible to read the 

 evening newspaper and swing his 

 children at the same time, George A. 

 Netcott, of Independence, Iowa, set about 

 to devise a self-operated 

 swing which would enable 

 a child to swing itself 

 without calling on the 

 parent for assistance. 

 After developing three styles 

 of swings he finally adopted 

 the one illustrated on account 

 of the ease of operation. 



His swing differs from the 

 ordinary swing in that it has 

 an additional pair of ropes 

 which serve as the propelling 

 force. These ropes are se- 

 cured at their upper ends to 

 hooks placed a few inches in 

 front of the hooks which hold 

 the swing ropes. At their 

 lower ends the ropes terminal 

 ia a pair of handles whic'.i 

 slide freely up and down ths 

 swing ropes. By pulling on 



the handles the swing is set in motion. The 

 harder one pulls the higher the swing goes. 

 The inventor also provides the swing 

 with foot ropes which may be operated in 

 conjunction with the hand ropes or in- 

 dependently of 

 them. These are 

 fastened to the 

 handles in the same 

 manner as the hand 

 ropes. 



By working both 

 foot and hand ropes 

 the swing can be 

 set in motion almost 

 immediately. By 

 pulling downward 

 the swing is forced 

 forward, and when 

 the handles are re- 

 leased the weight of 

 the child forces the 

 swing backward. 



The foot-ropes 



and stirrups also 



make it possible for 



to 



one 



the 



the 



and 



two children 

 swing together 

 operating 

 handles and 

 the stirrups 



the hand move- 

 ment. Although designed for the smaller 

 children, the swing is strong enough for a 

 child of any size. Its weight-carrying 

 power depends not so much on the ropes as 

 on the strength of the ceiling hooks. 



other standing in 

 "pumping" in time with 



Hand and foot ropes connected with a pair of hollow handles 

 enable the chil i to operate the swing without assistance 



