Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/256

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��Popular Science Monthly

��ed by the reports for the year 1914, which show that fifty lowans were killed on railroad crossings of this sort. The death toll from this source for 1915 has been almost as large.

Immediately following a fatal acci- dent, when public opinion demands ac- tion on the part of the local authori- ties, plan and estimates of cost are worked out, and a tentative adjust- ment of the cost between the county and railroad is made. In the majority of cases the railroads have been willing

���This old fort has been converted into a

water tower, and is saving much expense

to the town

to co-operate with the state in remov- ing these sources of danger from the country highways. One railroad in particular relocated eleven dangerous crossings in one county.

Dangerous turns in overhead cross- ings, bridges undermined during flood seasons, sharp turns in roads, "chuck" holes, ditches alongside roads, weeds and other obstructions on roads, un- guarded bridges, speeding on slippery roads, reckless driving at night,

��"short" culverts, steep embankments, neglect in placing warning signs or barricading dangerous places are some of the sources of danger the traveler in the country must encounter almost every day.

The loss of more than 125 lowans in the last two years has not been without some beneficial results, as a demand for the building of permanent roads has been crystalized as the re- sult of these sacrifices. It has been rather a costly manner in which to awaken the public to the need of these changes, however.

Sprinkling Streets with the Aid of an old Fort

ONE of the many Martello towers or forts found around the coast in the Channel Islands has been put to a novel use. These buildings lie idle for the most part, having been built over a hun- dred years ago, and are now useless from a military point of view.

In Jersey Island, however, a use has been found for one of these towers. It now forms the base of a water tank used for street-sprinkling.

A windmill pumps water into the tank, thus saving considerable expense for- merly incurred when water was taken from the water company's mains.

Signal Lights for Traveling Cranes

WRKMEN employed in shops where a traveling crane is used are constantly on guard to see whether the crane is approaching them. This consumes a considerable amount of time, which, when multiplied by all the workmen so occupied in looking up at the crane, totals up to a formidable loss. An Ohio firm has placed on the market a device which is designed to warn the workmen, by means of red and green lights on the crane, whether the latter is coming toward, or moving away, from them. When the crane ap- proaches the observer, the red light au- tomatically lights, and when it departs from the observer, a green light gives the safety signal. The device has the advantage over warning gongs, which merely attract without telling the direc- tion in which the crane is moving.

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