478 



Popular Science Monthly 



Using a Suction Pump to Clear 

 a Clogged Drain 



THE head-pump 

 of an ordi- 

 nary tin garden- 

 sprayer may be 

 used effectively for 

 freeing a waste 

 pipe from obstruc- 

 tion. Being unable 

 to empty the bath 

 tub, even by run- 

 ning wires down 

 the drain, one ex- 

 perimenter prepared to bail it out, antici- 

 pating afterward a plumber's bill of $2 

 or $3. For bailing, he had, besides a 

 basin, a tin suction pump detached from 

 the reservoir usually included in the 

 hand-sprayer. 



Taking up this pump, it occurred to 

 him to try its effect over the vent of 

 the tub. Pressing down the piston, he 

 was astonished at the resistance, and 

 on taking two or three strokes, found 

 that the water was rapidly lowering in 

 the tub. The suction pump, pressed 

 down upon the drain, had given an op- 

 portunity for exciting its not inconsid- 

 erable force and, as a result, had dis- 

 lodged the obstruction without further 

 difficulty. — E. R. Chadbourn. 



A Door Retainer 



N' 



(J T wishing 

 the horizon- 

 tal top door of an 

 ice-box or cabinet 

 to fall clear back 

 vhen opened, the 

 device here shown 

 may be used. From 

 1/16" steel or 

 brass, fashion a piece as in the illustra- 

 tion. The angle of the sides is equal to 

 180° minus the angle at which the door 

 is to stand. The hole in the piece is equal 

 to the diameter of the pin of the hinge 

 on the door. Take the pin out of the 

 hinge and file one of the pin-holders off, 

 to allow the device just made to fit on 

 the pin and in the inner portion of the 

 hinge. Re-assemble the hinge and screw 

 it on the door. When the door is 

 opened this device will hold it up at the 

 desired angle. — Noble Landis. 



A 



A Garbage and Paper Burner 



SATISFAC- 



TORY gar- 

 bage and paper 

 incinerator can be 

 made from a cylin- 

 der of galvanized 

 iron \A" in diam- 

 eter and 28" in 

 height. A cylinder 

 of this sort can be 

 made at the local 

 tinsmith's for about 

 seventy-five cents. 

 In iise, it is placed 

 on an iron grate and the refuse ignited 

 by placing it on a pile of dry paper in 

 the bottom. — C. L. Vestal. 



I 



Concealing the Spare Silver 



N building 



their home, a 

 family provided a 

 storage place for 

 the "company" 

 silver, which holds 

 the entire supply when the family leaves 

 home in the summer. In the clothes 

 closet of an upstairs bedroom is a shirt- 

 waist box on casters. This seems nat- 

 ural and attracts no attention. Beneath 

 it is the hiding place in the floor. A sec- 

 tion of flooring is hinged and below is a 

 box for the silver. — Avis G. Vestal. 



A Flow^er-Pot Hanger 



WITH the com- 

 ing of winter, 

 it becomes neces- 

 sary to bring in, 

 the flowers. The 

 handy device 

 shown can be made 

 by any blacksmith. 

 It consists of a frame for holding the 

 flower-pot and a wall bracket for hold- 

 ing the frame. Both are made from I/4" 

 round iron, fashioned to the illustrated 

 shape and welded together. The size of 

 the iron hoop that encircles the pot is 

 determined by the diameter of the pot 

 just below the top flange. The size of 

 the bracket is determined by the weight 

 of the pot and its size. Good judgment 

 only is needed to make either of these 

 parts.— Noble Landis. 



