Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/740

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���A curtain of cold water falling on a screen in front of the furnace partially neutralizes the effects of the terrific heat

��snow-wliitc starcli.

��A Water Curtain to Protect Workmen from Intense Heat

IN OUR rollinsr mills the output of finished material falls off in the hot summer months, due to the intense heat radiated by the furnaces. Several means have been devised to protect workmen from these infernos. Among the most recent is a water curtain shown in the accompanying illustration.

It consists of a rectangular-shaped sheet-metal screen suspendcci by three door-hangers placed on an iron track.

The two furnace en- trances have angle- around their edges keep the water from affecting the fire. Riveted to the bot- tom of the screen is a trough which receives the falling water and conveys it to a drain pipe. At the top, extending lengthwise, is the spray pipe. This isef|ui|)pe{l with a row of small holes in the bottom, through w li i c h t h e w a t e r flows against the cur- tain. 'Phe .spray pi])e Large enough to hold a postmistress

��How Nature Puts the Pop in Popcorn

NATIRK has filled a grain (jf popcorn with tightly packed starch-grains. The in- terior of the grain is divided into a large num- ber of cells, each of which may be likened to a tin box, the walls of which are sufficiently strong to withstand con- siderable pressure from within. Upon the appli- cation of heat the mois- ture present in each little box is converted into steam that finally es- capes by explosion. In some cases the explosions are of great force.

A ven.- high degree of heat is required for satisfactory popping. This causes most of the cells to explode simultaneously. The grain of corn then literally turns inside out, and is trans- formed into a relati\ely large mass ol

���A Mail Box Big Enough to Keep House In

E.ACH >ear the residents of Syracuse, New York, invite their nearby friends and the rest of the world to the New ^'ork State Fair, which has been held in that city for my years past. This year the Syracusans waxed eloquent and designed the huge mail box, shown in the accompaining il- lustration, for mailing srxeral tlu)usaii(l letter and post-card in\ itations.

The box is aliout twelve feet high, six feet wide, and eight feet long. It was so big peoi)li' couldn't m.iil their letters in the iisu.il wa\-, so a il.iintv postmistress

��is capped at one <'nd.

��and thousands of letters nnd cards

��was ni

��nailed.

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