Page:Popular Mechanics 1928 01.pdf/47

 



People sitting at a table and apparently playing a game with tiny automobiles on a model street is a common sight in the motor-vehicle license offices at Los Angeles. But the "game" is a serious one, for the persons about the table are being tested as to their ability to solve traffic problems while driving an automobile. The examination is part of the formality connected with issuing drivers' licenses and, before permission is granted to operate a car, the candidate must prove that he can satisfactorily manage the little autos and answer the problems put to him about how he would drive his own car. His solution of the questions is illustrated with the models.

 

Three years of careful attention are usually required to shape the young trees that are to be fashioned into umbrella handles. At the end of the first year, the tree is trimmed back, quite short, and the wood twisted into various shapes. The carvings are sometimes made at this stage. and the designs swell as the tree grows. One of the chief tasks of the cultivators is to keep the sap flowing and to prevent the tree from dying in its crippled condition. After cutting, each stick is sun-dried and then given a vapor bath to soften the wood for the final shaping.

 



Bedroom slippers, Japanese style, made of paper, and inclosed in a paper envelope. are being provided for guests in many hotels. The slippers have a sole of cardboard and toes of a heavy crepe paper, the edges being bound with a narrow tape, sewed on, so that it also holds the toe in place. The envelope, made of the same heavy crepe paper as the toes, is fitted with a snap-button fastener.

