Popular Science Monthhj 



753 



Small blasted ditches have been scoured 

 out by the current until they are now 

 carrying the entire flow of large streams. 

 With a little help now and then any 

 stream with a fair fall can be made to 

 do wonders in making itself a permanent 

 and suitable course. 



Sometimes roads must parallel streams 

 for considerable distances, where the lay 

 of the land is such that the road must 

 be immediately alongside the stream. 

 Correction lies in deepening the stream 

 by blasting, and then constructing a 

 small side ditch next to the bank to 

 handle the water from above. 



The field of usefulness of explosives 

 in road building is rapidly widening 

 and will in a short time include many 

 classes of work now done entirely by 

 hand labor, as the cost will be materially 

 reduced. 



To Bench-^ 



Construction of a bench shear for cutting 

 copper strips. This device is easily oper- 

 ated by a foot treadle 



Making a Bench Shear 



THE illustration shows a shear that 

 was made for cutting strips of 

 copper, Y2 i''i- wide and ^ in. thick. 

 The jaw A, is made deep to be gripped 

 in the wire at the bench. The moving 

 jaw is connected to a treadle on the 

 floor. The rod B, which brings the 

 moving jaw back to place, pivots at C, 

 and rests on the pin D. It is worked by 

 a spring which is fastened to the top of 

 the bench. The guide £, which is 

 fastened to the stationary jaw, keeps 

 the two cutting edges of the jaws 

 together. The stop is made adjustable, 

 as shown. The jaws should be made 

 from t(x:)l-steel. The writer made tlie 

 stationary jaw out of cast-iron, which 

 has cut several hundred pieces and is 

 still in good condition. — C. Anderson. 



A 



An Improved Bottle Stopper 

 BOTTLE 



stopper espec- 

 ially suited to the 

 use of travelers, is 

 shown in the illus- 

 tration. It consists 

 of a single piece of 

 soft red rubber, 

 having two parts, 

 a base and a hood. 

 The base is in the 

 form of a regular 

 stopper, and its 

 upper edge is ex- 

 tended as a short tube, as shown at A, 

 in the illustration. After inserting the 

 stopper in the bottle, the top part is 

 pulled down over the rim, as at B, 

 forming a tight hood over the mouth of 

 the bottle, as at C. This stopper is 

 especially good for benzine, alcohol and 

 other volatile or inflammable liquids, 

 or for acids and the like. 



New Automobile Alarm Calls for Help 



THE recent starting of an automobile 

 at an exhibition of motor cars by 

 wireless power, suggested to an inventor 

 a new application of the wireless prin- 

 ciple. The instrument includes the 

 installation of a wireless sending appara- 

 tus, with a radius of only a few hundred 

 yards, and a small receiving instrument, 

 such as are used now without the need 

 of aerial wires. When the owner of the 

 car leaves it unprotected for a time, he 

 switches on the "wireless" and walks 

 away. Any interference with the igni- 

 tion system is at once "wirelessed" to 

 the owner, who carries the recei\'ing 

 instrument in his pocket. The buzzing 

 of his receiver sends him scurr\ing to 

 his car. 



\^/////!,'J>/'i 



A fine drill made from a needle 



A Drill Made from a Needle 



SMALL drills for watchmakers can 

 \)C made from needles which are 

 tempered, tiled at one end to the usual 

 shape of a drill point, and fitted at the 

 other end with a small brass or copper 

 handle. 



