Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/765

 Popular Science Monthhi

��751

��A Pipe Filler Which Takes the Place of the Smoker's Fingers

THE fastidious smoker who does not wish to stain his lingers can slulT his pipe with an instrument iiueiited by Arthur A. Hauerbach and Hugli (i. Allan, of Stockton, California.

The stuffer measures a pipeful of tobacco in the tobacco-pouch or jar and then forces it into the bowl of the pipe without losing a iiartidc. It consists of a tubular liandle jirovided wilh a long slot near one end and a c\liiulrical bowl at the other. Within the Ijowl is a plunger which is fastened to a piston tenninating in a finger at the top of the tubular handle, as showTi in the accom- panying illustration.

\\'hen the pipe is to lie tilled, the Ijowl- cnd of the stuller is inserted into the jar of tobacco and tinned initil the bowl is l),.cked tight. Tlien the stulfer is fitted into the bowl of the pipe. By pressing down the finger the plunger forces the tobacco into the pii^c in a neat and com- pact mold. A spiral spring in the tubular handle instantly returns the various parts to their normal position when the mechanical finger is released.

����The filler presses the tobacco into the pipe in a compact mold without staining the hands

��A weight supported by a strip of wood is attached to the damper and draughts

Reducing the Furnace Man to a Mere Push-Button

FALI,IX(i down the cellar stairs in an attempt to get at the furnace to open the draughts on one of these blus- tering, cold mornings is not a wise or a necessar>' thing to do. By installing an apparatus such as is described here, you can stay in your warm bed and set the furnace to heating the house by merely pressing a push-button at your side. Or if j-ou are given to over-sleeping, your alarm clock will perform the same service for you.

The apparatus for regulating the furnace consists of a weight attached by ropes to the damper antl draughts, a light strip of wood to hold the weight, two magnets, an armature, and pulleys to lessen the rope-friction. The strip of wood which holds the weight is wide at one end and pointed at the other, as shown in the illustration. The ])ointecl ei'd rests on a hea\y strip of soft iron which moves on two tin rails. When the push-button in the bedroom is pressed, a circuit is closed and the two magnets draw the piece of iron, or the armature, from under the supporting stri[i of wood, causing the weight to fall down and pull open the draughts.

An alarm clock may be used to take the place of the push-button. The clock can be set to complete a circuit at a certain hour and to open the furnace draughts in the way illustrated.

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