568 Popular Scierice Monthly 



A Sycamore Stump for a Lamp Post 



N a Pasadena, Cal., front vard stands 



I 



an old sycamore stump about ten 

 feet high. A foot or so from the top 

 are the stubs of two branches. The 

 owner of the property has conceived the 

 idea of converting the stump into a lamp 

 post. - In the top and at the end of each 

 branch stub he has placed an electric 

 light bulb. These are connected with 

 a source of current in his house by wires 

 that run under the sidewalk and up 

 through the trunk of the tree. 



An old sycamore stump which was made 



both useful and decorative by the simple 



use of three electric lamps 



Waste of sandpaper and of patience is elim- 

 inated by this efficient little block 



Sandpapering Made Easy 



SANDPAPERING has always been a 

 disagreeable job because there has 

 been no convenient device for holding 

 the sandpaper. A sandpaper-gripper in- 

 vented by Logan H. Fowler of Colony, 

 Kansas, provides a means for holding 

 the sandpaper without crumpling it and 

 without exhausting the patience of the 

 man who is attempting to put the final 

 polish on a piece of furniture. 



The sandpaper is stretched over the 

 bottom of a block and fastened by grip- 

 ping members at each end. The block 

 has a handle which is readily grasped 

 in the hand ; thus a convenient tool is 

 provided for the carpenter or the cabi- 

 net-maker. It saves time and requires 

 only about one-sixth of the amount of 

 sandpaper generally used. 



A Method for Packing Barrels 



A DEALER who had at different 

 times a number of barrels to fill 

 with a fine powder, wanted to get as 

 much as possible into each barrel. He 

 hit upon the scheme of placing two lag- 

 screws (about a half-inch by three 

 inches) under opposite edges of the 

 barrel somewhere near the center. By 

 rocking the barrel back and forth a 

 few times it jolted the powder down 

 until it was quite solid. This method 

 can be successfully used for a great 

 \ariety of articles. Lag-screws cost 

 but little and they will last forever. 

 The square heads keep them from roll- 

 ing. The screws will fit any size bar- 

 rel and can be carried in the pocket so 

 they will be handy when needed. 



