CURIOSITIES. 
[ iVe shall be glad lo receive Contributions to this section, and to fay for such as are accepted .] 
A UNIQUE CLOCK. 
'T'RULY remarkable is the 
1 unique clock constructed 
in his spare moments by Mr. 
C. W. Egan, general claim 
agent of the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, and a leader 
in the “ Safety First ” move- 
ment recently started by that 
railroad. Replacing the 
numerals on the clock, which 
is six feet high, are the letters 
contained in the words 
“ Safety First.” Across the 
face of the clock are the 
words “ Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad,” the letter “ B ” of 
the first word replacing the 
numeral “9,” thus cornplet- 
HOUSE-BUILDING 
EXTRAORDINARY IN 
OPORTO. 
F ROM time to time 
one comes across 
extraordinary houses of 
every description — rock 
houses, houses built in 
trees, or houses designed 
in the form of a vessel, or 
some equally unusual 
design. Perhaps Portugal 
takes the palm for a curi- 
ous method of construct- 
ing the ordinary every- 
day house. In that country, 
notably in Oporto, the 
tourist will observe that 
the three outside walls, 
the interior walls, the 
floors, and the roof of a 
house are built first, leav- 
ing the Ircnt of the house 
ing the 1 welvc.lettcrs. Over 
the dial is a semaphore. 
Twice daily the clock per- 
forms three essentials to 
safe railroading. Promptly 
at 10 a.m. and at 4 p.m. 
the semaphore drops to 
green, this being the signal 
to the engineer lo go ahead 
with caution. Then a 
whistle blows twice, which 
is the engineer’s signal 
that he sees the warning 
of the man in the tower. 
When the whistle subsides 
a bell rings, this being a 
reminder that no loco- 
motive must be started 
before a bell is rung. After 
the bell stops a curtain 
falls from the rear of the 
clock on which arc printed 
ten “Safety First Don’ts.” 
—Mr, C. Lat. Wilhelm, The 
Star, Baltimore, U.S.A. 
open, j his is due to a pecu- 
liar custom, under which it 
is necessary to secure the 
special permission of the city 
authorities before the front 
of a house can be pul in. 
Pending this, operations are 
carried on as far as possible, 
and so it is a very common 
sight lo see buildings in the 
condition shown in the above 
photograph. Permission has 
just been granted, in this 
instance, to put in the front, 
a section of which is already 
in position. — Mr. A. W. Cutler, 
Rose Hill House, Worcester. 
A PERILOUS CLIMB. 
'"T'UIE photograph below Is one I took from the top 
1 of a new iron chimney-stack, seventy-two fret 
high, the summit, being attained by means of an iron 
ladder attached inside the chimney. The seeming 
pallor on the face of the “ jack ” below me, who 
accompanied me up, may have been caused through 
his expectation that at any moment lie might have 
had to break rny fall on my downward journey. Mr. 
T. A. Can tie, 55, Devonshire Road, Westbury Park, 
Bristol. 
