Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/76

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��Popular Science Monthly

��mounted two large cams. Directly under each of these there is suspended a foot. As the shaft re\'olves, these feet are lifted by the chains which are suspended from a carr\'ing beam attached to the cams and drawn forward and dropped on the ground, whereupon the cam comes in contact with them and its toothed surface engages with similar depressions on the foot. The whole machine is raised and moved forward and gently placed on the ground again, the motion suggesting nothing more than a deliber- ate walk. It is said that this additional apparatus rep- resents no more weight than the skids, planks and other para- phernalia made use of in the movement of other excavat- ing machines when shifting location.

In this man- ner the machine will follow a straight line. When it is nec- essary to change its course for any reason, the walking appa- ratus is stopped at a point when

��the combinefl weight is resting on the re- voK'ing platform under the center of the machine. By making use of the latter the machine is headed in the desired direction, after which it will proceed along its new course as long as desired. When engaged in trench work, which is of a progressive character, the machine "walks" along as the work on the trench is completed. This is a great advantage in the reclamation ser\ice in which these machines are employed by the Ck)vern- ment instead of mule teams, which have been eliminated b)- machinery.

��This excavator is being used with success by the United States Govern- ment on one of the great irri- gation projects of the arid Southwest

���The driving- shaft, the huge cams and the feet suspended by chains from the bars on the cams are shown in their rela- tive positions in the picture appearing t o the right

���Nations Bleed in Peace as Well as in War

��CANADA is awakening to the fact that while she is bleeding openly in war she has been bleeding quite copiously in time of peace. In other words, a comparison of the industrial accidents and casualties with a list of the casualties of the Canadian I'orces at the front, reveals the information that certain arts are as destructive, in pro- portion, as certain forms of warfare. I'urthermorc, Canada believes that she has opened her heart and administered with e\ery effort to those crippled in the w.ir, but has given little attention to (hose crippled in the arts of peace, except to i)ay them a small indemnity. Despite llie f.ut that improved ma-

��chinery has been installed in most Canadian plants, cutting down appreci- ably accidents formerly due to old operating methods, the number of acci- dents has continued to keep up. For instance. Prof. F. H. Sexton of the Technical Department of the University of Nova Scotia, at Halifax, has kept a careful record of killed or injured work- men in the industrial arts. Comjiaring his statistics for. say, December, I<)14, with the same month for 11)15, one finds that fifty-five men were killed as against fift>-six of the year before, while two hundred and sixt>-eight were injured as ag.iinst two hundretl and se\'enteen of the pri'N'ious vear.

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