386 



Popular Science Monthly 



truck, only one or two from the tail end 

 can be dropped off at a time. A bag is 

 stood up and the string is cut; the 

 bag is thrown over, and its contents are 

 spilled out by lifting the lower end. As 

 the average bag of potatoes weighs 

 about one hundred seventy-five pounds, 

 this entails considerable manual labor 

 and time. After the inspector passes on 

 the potatoes they must be shoveled up 

 and thrown back into the bag and the 

 bag must be sewed up. This process 

 must be repeated for all inspected bags. 

 If as many as five are inspected out of, 

 say, one hundred on a truck load, the 

 inspection is considered adequate. It 

 frequently happens that when the pota- 

 toes reach their consumption destina- 

 tion a large proportion are found of in- 

 ferior quality ; they have never been 

 seen by the inspector. Knowing that 

 only the bags at the tail end of the truck 

 can be inspected, the seller places there 

 those of the best quality. 



The device illustrated is intended to 

 afford opportunity for better inspection 

 and for the inspection of a larger pro- 

 portion of the goods and the reduction 

 of time and labor. The device is wheeled 

 up to the end of the truck, a bag of 

 potatoes is placed upon the small dump- 

 er and the string cut ; it is then tilted 

 over so that its contents spill and spread 

 out in the tray. The inspector, stand- 

 ing upon the platform at the side, views 

 the entire contents at a glance, and 

 then pulls the lever. The weight of 

 the potatoes in the tray causes the front 

 end to descend ; the potatoes run out 

 through the spout into the bag held un- 

 der it, and the bag is sewed up. There is 

 little or no manual labor. The process is 

 much faster than the old-fashioned way, 

 and as many bags of potatoes through- 

 out a delivery may be inspected as may 

 seem desirable. 



This device is suitable for inspection 

 of the coarser vegetables — such as po- 

 tatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, turnips, 

 parsnips and the like. It is also suitable 

 for such fruits as lemons, oranges, ap- 

 ples and pears which need not be care- 

 fully handled. 



The floor of the machine is construct- 

 ed of slats, so as to allow the dirt to fall 

 between them. Hence the buyer pays 

 only for the goods bought. These slats 



can be fastened at varying distances so 

 as to act as a sorting device for size. 

 Undersized fruits or vegetables drop 

 through and are discarded. 



By means of a small tray fitted into 

 the permanent one and having a solid 

 floor, grains can also be inspected — such 

 as oats and corn. Thus the entire con- 

 tents of a bag can be properly inspected, 

 instead of simply a handful. 



The device described was invented by 

 Hugh M. Foster, examining inspector 

 of purchase and supplies for New 

 York's Board of Estimate and Appor- 

 tionment. After years' experience he 

 became impressed with the lax methods 

 in use. By law an employee of the city 

 is prevented from profiting directly or 

 indirectly by the sale of an article to the 

 city government; therefore the inventor 

 gave permission to the city to construct 

 as many of these machines as would be 

 needed for its own use. This permis- 

 sion has been accepted by the Board of 

 Estimate and Apportionment on behalf 

 of the city, and the machine has been 

 constructed and is now being used in the 

 institutional departments which buy 

 such supplies. 



Why Do Moving Pictures Seem So 

 Life-Like? 



It takes a certain amount of time to 

 affect the eye. You do not see things 

 instantaneously. If you move a lighted 

 cigar in a dark room very rapidly you 

 see what is apparently a continuous curve 

 of light. 



The motion-pictures reproduce move- 

 ments faithfully for the same reason. Be- 

 fore the eye has a chance to see a picture 

 in its entirety a new picture is flashed on 

 the screen. The pictures appear and 

 vanish at the rate of sixteen a second, in 

 other words, so rapidly that the effect of 

 continuous motion is produced. 



Advantage is taken of this to produce 

 very curious and unnatural effects ; for 

 example, an old building tearing itself 

 down, a hole digging itself in the ground, 

 a skyscraper growing up from a found- 

 ation without the aid of human hands. 

 The camera operator has simply taken 

 a picture of the demolition of the old 

 building and the construction of the sky- 

 scraper at the rate of perhaps one an 

 hour, but projects them all in twenty 

 minutes. 



