Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/528

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��Popular Science MontJdy

��Putting Wheels Under Workmen Saves Time and Money

THE iirohlcin of intciidr and (.-xlerior transportation in one of the larj^est and busiest ammunition plants in this country — -a plant, by the way, which was constructed in eleven months — has been sol\-ed by the adoption of automobi les, motorcycles, motor- trucifs, hand-trucks, roller- skates and bicycles. The plant is work- ed at high pressure for twenty-four hours a day, and consists of thirteen main units and twelve s e r ^' i (■ ( buildings, each with a main cor- ridor one-half mile long. To inspect the various shops entails a walk of nearly ten miles, exclusive of the stairways. The combined floor area is a million and a half square feet. Between seventeen and eighteen thou- sand employees are on its i)ayroll.

If it is necessary to dispatch messcn- gerson important errands, or if the auto- mobile used for such duty is out of repair, the motor- cycle is pressed into use.

When a boy on the ground floor of build- ing "A" is given a note to deliver on the top floor of building "M" he lakes his bi- cycle on an elevator t<j the

���lilili lloor. mounts it, and is off on a run ol two thousand feet. If not detained by the i)arly to whom the note is addressed, he can deliver his answer to the person sending the message within seven min- utes from cHe time he began his jour- ney. Had he de- I)ended upon his legs, the same trip would ha\e taken him at least twen- t\-fne minutes.

��r^YCL V^^ beiuE

��Bic^'cles enable an t-xprt ss nussenger boy service to be carried on in large factories

��ialure figures ol

���Two miniature bicycle riders race around a minia- ture track, their speed corresponding to that of the athletes on the bicycles over the rollers

��The Old Fondness for Cycling Is Coming Back

.1\G is g revived in Cirand Rapids, Mich., and mem- bers of the club there have installed a unique apparatus in the V. M. C. A. gNinnasiuin to en- courage the sport. It consists of two frames, supporting rollers, which are connected by a speedometer tube with a miniature o n e - h a I f - in i I e track. The tube governs two min- riders which follow the circumterence of the track. Bicycles placed on llic rollers are ridden by

athletes and the miniature figures respond readily. Races are run daily, with starters and timers oltl- ciating. The a p p a r a t u s registers t he time accurate- K and at the linish of a race iMi'h rider is given his cor- rect time o\er llie distance.

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