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r n E 



AQUARIUM 



^ 



AERATION 



Installing the Conductors 



By FLOYD vS. YOUNG. 



Lead pipe will, in the long run, prove 

 cheaper and more satisfactory than iron 

 pipe or rubber tubing. Iron rusts to 

 such an extent as often to completely till 

 the orifice ; besides, it must have screw 

 connections, made with great care. Rub- 

 ber quickly rots out and must be re- 

 placed. Lead pipe having an inside diam- 

 eter of o-l() in., and an outside diameter 

 of 5-1 () in. is about right for use with 

 electric or hydraulic compressors. 



Soldered connections, although they 

 have been a bugbear to many, are in 

 reality not difficult to make. I have 

 known plumbers to spend an entire day 

 in putting in a line which should have 

 been installed in two hours. They are 

 accustomed to handle pipe Yj in. or more 

 in diameter. Then, too, the proper 

 handling of the lead-pot and soldering 

 iron requires more skill than is pos- 

 sessed by the average amateur, besides, 

 such an outfit is not adapted to small 

 work. Soldering irons apply the heat 

 too much in one place, melting the lead 

 tubing. Gasoline or other torches are 

 too rapid ; one cannot control the heat. 

 An alcohol lamp such as druggists use 

 is ideal for this work. The heat is mild, 

 and the solder is given time to thor- 

 oughly run into the joints. 



To make a good joint procure a piece 

 of brass tubing of .such size as to fit 

 snugly inside the lead i)ipe. Clean the 

 outside of the brass tubing with emery 

 paper and cut it into two-inch pieces. 

 Turn a knife-blade or file tip around a 

 few times in the ends of the lead pipe 

 to brighten the inner surface. Then in- 

 sert one of the sections of brass tubing 



into the ends of the pipe, pushing the 

 ends together ; apply a little tinners' acid 

 to the joint. Hold the joint above the 

 fiame of the alcohol lamp until the solder 

 held against the top of the pipe melts 

 and runs in. Wire tin solder should be 

 used. Bar solder, being thick and heavy, 

 requires too much heat. 



In case no brass tubing is available, 

 a joint may be made by spreading one 

 of the ends of lead pipe so that it will 

 fit over the other. A large nail worked 

 round and round will accomplish this. 

 The other end should be udiittled down 

 a trifle, so that it will fit snugly into the 

 spread end. The soldering is done as 

 in the first case. Care must be taken to 

 make the joint fit snugly, else the solder 

 may run into the pipe and obstruct it. 

 In the first method the brass prevents 

 this. All the soldering should be done 

 before the pipe is hung, otherwise one 

 will have trouble in keeping the ends to- 

 gether while a joint is being soldered. 



Lead pipe of this size can be handled 

 and bent as readily as wire. It can be 

 made almost invisible by being run along 

 the top of the picture-moulding ; where 

 the line runs from one room to another 

 a hole can be bored over the door-casing 

 where it will not show. 



450,000,000 Eggs Taken by 

 Fisheries 



At a time when the scarcity of eggs 

 is one of the chief topics of public con- 

 cern, a report comes from the L'nited 

 States Bureau of Fisheries, Washington. 

 D. C, showing that already this season 

 it has taken 4r)(),000,(»(»0 whitefish eggs in 

 Lake Erie, by far the largest ever made. 

 This is 13.000 quarts of the tiny eggs. 



