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Sidewalk Shelters for the Trolley 

 Patrons of Cincinnati 



SIDEWALK shelters for trolley pa- 

 trons are to be built at the junc- 

 tions of the principal trolley lines in 

 the city of Cincinati, Ohio. One of these 

 structures has already been erected at a 

 point where ninety per cent, of the trol- 



Popular Science Monthly 



Edison's Phonograph Diaphragm to 

 Record Only Faint Sounds 



THOMAS A. EDISON has ^cently 

 been granted a patent on a 

 phonograph diaphragm which will 

 record only faint sounds, excluding 

 those of any great intensity. Cork or 

 a similar material is used. Faint 



Cincinnati protects her street car 

 patrons from rain and from sun 



ley cars of the city pass. The innovation 

 has received such general approval that 

 the experiment is to be extended. Small- 

 er sheds are to be built at several other 

 points where trolley patrons congregate 

 to board the cars. 



The shelters are of metal of the um- 

 brella or mushroom type, the character- 

 istic of which is that the supports are 

 in the middle of the shelter where the 

 least number are required, so that little 

 or no obstruction to the stream of pedes- 

 trians is offered. 



This railroad does not wait for a damage 



suit to learn whether or not a car roof 



leaks 



sounds cause the diaphragm to vibrate 

 only slightly; greater vibrations, caused 

 by loud sounds, are restricted by a 

 small cylinder and plunger working on 

 the principle of a solenoid. 



Artificial Rainstorm Tests Car Roofs 



AN artificial rain storm has been de- 

 vised by Charles N. Swanson, su- 

 perintendent of car shops of the Atchi- 

 son, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, as 

 a means of testing the roofs of new 

 cars and repaired cars before they have 

 been put into service to make sure they 

 are rain proof. The apparatus consists 

 of a spraying device which throws a 

 very large quantity of water controlled 

 from a little house at the side of the 

 tracks. The cars to be tested are hauled 

 under the spray twice. The cars are 

 then entered by the inspectors and all 

 evidences of leakage are chalked for the 

 guidance of the repair men. \\'hen the 

 cars have been through the repair shops 

 they are again subjected to the rainstorm 

 test before they are put into service. The 

 volume of water is so great that it is 

 possible to locate leaks in the side sheath- 

 ing or ends of the cars. 



