Popular Science Monthly 



509 



Woman Invents a Life- Sav- 

 ing Device 

 SIIl^ is an ciuluisiasiic 

 inotorist and drives her 

 car with ease and skill, but 

 just the same she feels a 

 threat deal more secure since 

 she has eciuipped her ma- 

 cliine with a fender of her 

 own invention, for it elimi- 

 nates the dan- 

 ger of injuring 

 some unwary 

 pedestrian. 

 Who is she? 

 Mrs. J. M.Wirt 

 of Omaha. Her 

 feiulcr is en- 

 closed in a small 

 case extending 

 across the front 

 wheels. When 

 not in use it is 

 inconspicuous 

 and does not disfigure the car. In an 

 emergency it springs open like a flash, 

 throwing out a net four feet in front of 

 the wheels. The net is so accuratelv ad- 



The "woman's fender" 

 rolled up. In the oval, 

 it is shown extended 

 after the foot-brake 

 has been depressed to 

 meet an emergency ; for 

 the fender and brake 

 are operated as a unit 



justed that it will pick 



up an object as small 



as a brick ; yet it is strong enough to carry 



a weight of two hundred and fifty pounds. 



The releasing-trip operates the brake 



and fender simultaneouslv. 



Riveting Without Rivets 



ELICCTRIC current, reduced to an 

 extremely low voltage but increased 

 in volume to tremendous proportions by 



I h e use o f 



huge trans- 

 formers, finds 

 an unusual 

 and spectacu- 

 l.ir applica- 

 tion in per- 

 lorming the 

 work that riv- 

 ets are in- 

 tended lo per- 

 form. The 

 chief dislinc- 

 I ion between 

 (he ordinary 

 ri\et and the 

 electric rivet 

 is the differ- 

 ence in time 

 tliat is re- 

 (|uiretl in the 

 I wo opera- 

 tions. The 

 results are 



Intense electric heat, applied in one spot after another, 



welds the steel more firmly and more quickly than 



is possible with the use of rivets 



equally successful. Electric riveting re- 

 quires much less time. Riveting, liow- 

 ever, is not the precise word, as welding 

 is the operation that actually takes place. 



Two layers of 

 metal to be 

 joined are 

 placed to- 

 gether be- 

 tween the 

 j a w s o f a 

 giant m a - 

 chine. A lex- 

 er is pulled ; 

 electric 

 sparks fly; a 

 spot between 

 the jaws 

 quickly heats 

 to brightness; 

 the two sur- 

 faces melt and 

 flow together. 

 The result is 

 a permanent 

 but practical- 

 ly unnotice- 

 able weld. 



