Page:Popular Mechanics 1928 01.pdf/43

 over the automobile road hang low enough brush the top of the car close to the river's face and so warn him, by day or night, to look out for the crossing which not far ahead.

 

So far as is known, the oldest living thing in the world today is a tree. It may be one of the giant sequoias of the Pacific coast, an East African baobab or one of the cypresses of Mexico. A tree of this kind, near Oaxaca, is said to have lived 6,000 years. It is forty-one feet through the trunk and, though its exact age cannot be determined without cutting the trunk and counting the rings, an approximate reckoning is made by comparing it with others of the same kind. By counting the rings, it has been found that some of the sequoias have lived at least 5,000 years. Among the animals, the longest-lived generally are supposed to be the big tortoises of the Galapagos islands, which are estimated to be 200 years old. Carp, kept in ponds, have lived to he 150, and parrots have lived eighty years in captivity. The longest-lived insect is the locust, but it spends all but a month of its seventeen-year existence in larva form.

 

Interesting stencil pictures can be made in brass with comparatively little work, and the results are unusual, since there is an opportunity for decorative backgrounds and development of detail. In the accompanying illustration of the national-capitol stencil, a black base for the brass emphasizes the proportions of the building and shows how the entire structure has been accurately suggested by using only the strongest and simplest features. The work of cutting the stencil consumed about three days, and it is framed under glass.



 



When the Maharajah of Mysore recently celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coronation, Europeans invited to the ceremony witnessed one of the most gorgeous processions for which India is noted. Even the royal elephants, which participated in the parade, were clothed in plush, gold and precious gems. The beast which bore the gold howdah of the maharajah had golden rings on his tusks, and his head, with the exception of peepholes for the eyes, was completely covered by a jewel-studded and gold-ornamented headdress, with a floral design painted on it in brilliant colors.

