Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/596

 568 Popular Scierice Monthly

A Sycamore Stump for a Lamp Post

N a Pasadena, Cal., front vard stands

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��an old sycamore stump about ten feet high. A foot or so from the top are the stubs of two branches. The owner of the property has conceived the idea of converting the stump into a lamp post. - In the top and at the end of each branch stub he has placed an electric light bulb. These are connected with a source of current in his house by wires that run under the sidewalk and up through the trunk of the tree.

����An old sycamore stump which was made

both useful and decorative by the simple

use of three electric lamps

��Waste of sandpaper and of patience is elim- inated by this efficient little block

Sandpapering Made Easy

SANDPAPERING has always been a disagreeable job because there has been no convenient device for holding the sandpaper. A sandpaper-gripper in- vented by Logan H. Fowler of Colony, Kansas, provides a means for holding the sandpaper without crumpling it and without exhausting the patience of the man who is attempting to put the final polish on a piece of furniture.

The sandpaper is stretched over the bottom of a block and fastened by grip- ping members at each end. The block has a handle which is readily grasped in the hand ; thus a convenient tool is provided for the carpenter or the cabi- net-maker. It saves time and requires only about one-sixth of the amount of sandpaper generally used.

A Method for Packing Barrels

A DEALER who had at different times a number of barrels to fill with a fine powder, wanted to get as much as possible into each barrel. He hit upon the scheme of placing two lag- screws (about a half-inch by three inches) under opposite edges of the barrel somewhere near the center. By rocking the barrel back and forth a few times it jolted the powder down until it was quite solid. This method can be successfully used for a great \ariety of articles. Lag-screws cost but little and they will last forever. The square heads keep them from roll- ing. The screws will fit any size bar- rel and can be carried in the pocket so they will be handy when needed.

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