Page:Popular Mechanics 1928 01.pdf/18

 



An engineering task, rivaling anything of its kind in the world, is under way in Japan, where builders are at work on a ten-mile tunnel that will connect the cities of Moji and Shimonoseki, now linked by ferries and boats that ply between the islands. In places, the water line of the tunnel will be eighty feet below the sea bed, and difficulties, such as soft strata and other obstacles, are being encountered.

 

Oil, water and air are mixed and burned to run an engine developed by a western inventor for the cheaper production of electric power and for many other purposes. An essential unit of the apparatus is said to be a springless mushroom valve that works successfully under the 5,000 pounds pressure required to prepare the proper emulsion for combustion. The mixture is also suitable for fuel in home heating plants. The engine employed by the inventor to demonstrate the performance of the fuel was a one-cylinder, ten-horsepower unit of an old model. A low grade of oil, air and water were pumped in and compressed to 5,000 pounds in a small steel cylinder. The engine was first started with gasoline and the mixture cut in later. The exhaust from the emulsified fuel was free of carbon and noxious fumes, and was cool, according to reports.

 



Absence of lacing, and a side valve for inflating it, are features of a basket ball introduced this season. The bladder is attached inside and air introduced through a valve screwed into an opening in the cover. When the valve is removed for playing, a little rubber flap closes the hole. The slit through which the bladder is put in, is sewed up, making a smooth surface, and the stitches do not have to be undone except to remove the bladder and put in a new one.

