730 



Popular Science Monthly 



knot-holes in this way in a box factory 

 that turns out ten thousand feet of box- 

 lumber in a day can be done by one man 

 working only three or four hours per 

 day. 



Earrings that Denote Widowhood 



HAT India is a land of curious cus- 



tojns is confirmed by examining 



A machine which cleans 



out knot-holes and then 



plugs them with a solid 



piece of wood 



A Machine Which Plugs 

 Knot-Holes 



THE machine shown 

 in the accompanying 

 illustration is the inven- 

 tion of Alerton J. Miller, a wooden-box 

 manufacturer, of Los Angeles, Califor- 

 nia. Designed for the purpose of assist- 

 ing in the plugging of knot-holes in box 

 shook, it may be equipped successively 

 with two different sizes of circular bit- 

 like saws — one of which is used to elim- 

 inate the knot or reduce the knot-hole to 

 a perfectly round hole, and the other of 

 which, slightly larger, cuts the plugs used 

 to close the holes. 



The plugs are inserted in the shook 

 by hand and fastened in place with- crim- 

 per nails. Plugs are usually kept in 

 stock, of various thicknesses, and as the 

 lumber is cut up into shook the pieces 

 containing loose knots or knot-holes are 

 laid aside and later transferred to the 

 boring machine. Box lumber is gener- 

 ally of rather inferior quality, and hence 

 full of knots ; and by the use of this ma- 

 chine a very great saving in lumber foot- 

 age is made possible. The plugging of 



accompanying illustration. This 

 womian is a native of Garo, 

 a province of Eastern Ben- 

 gal. She is a widow; but 

 instead of wearing black 

 crepe, she dons these pon- 

 derous earrings made of 

 solid brass. Since her wid- 

 owhood is perpetual, she is 

 obliged to wear them the 

 rest of her life. Each year 

 another ring is added. The 

 large number of rings 

 would seem to indicate 

 great age; but in India 

 girls are married when 

 only five or six years of 

 age, and frequently are 

 widowed at eight or ten. 



The constantly increas- 

 ing weight of metal 

 stretches the lobe of the 

 ear, to which they are at- 

 tached, in the extraordi- 

 nary manner depicted. It 

 is safe to say that no widow ever forgets 

 the fact of her widowhood when wearing 

 such a clumsy weight. 



She is a widow. Her earrings are a 

 badge of mourning 



