Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/769

 Popular Science Monthly

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��position in one lA the- \ertical columns allotted to the record for eacli lap.

This la|) record shows the jiositioii of each car within 60 seconds after it has completed a lap, because not more than a dozen car numbers are written on any one sheet before it is torn ofT the pad and passed to the visor and in turn to the writers at the lap-sheet.

Group No. 2, Checking Knowledge, is made up of three men working two machines, t)ne of which is a combination of odometers, one for each car. These odometers arc used to register t he mileage covered by each car, so that b\- dividing the reading as shown by the length of the track in miles, one can tell the num- ber of laps credited to each car.

The other machine consists of two rolls of paper which automatically un- wind at one end and wind up at the other b>' means of a crank attached to the odometer. That portion of the paper which is between the rolls is co\"ered with celluloid except for a narrow slot which pemiits a thin slice of paper to show through. As the operators push down the odometer lc\'er for an\- partic- ular car, the man at the celluloid machine marks that number on the paper showing thnnigh the slot, and as the le\-er jumps back to its original position, the paper roll unwinds and brings a new strip of paper across the slot. The record thus obtained is used to check against the odometer readings and the lap-sheet.

The mechanism of Group No. 3, Calculating Knowledge, consists of an instrument known a$ the Horograph. This is somewhat similar to the a|)para- tus used on the railroads for notifying a switchman that a train is coming Ijy the ringing of a bell as soon as it has passed over a distant section of track. Electric wires are strung from the Horograph to the finish line on the track and as each car passes over them, an electrical contact is made which actu- ates a clock device forming a part of the

��time of contact is automalicalK printed on a long strij) of pajjer tape, similar to that used, on stock tickers. This tape feeds out o{ the machine along a narrow table, as shown in the illuslralion oppo- site, where it ma\- be examined with- out being picked ui).

Although the lime when each car passes the finish line on each lap is printed on the tape, the particular number of each car is not designated, so that some means has to be taken to connect the time as shown with the car which makes it. This is done l)y men stationed along the table who watch the cars as they pass and then mark the proper number opposite each time record.

Two men stationed along this table take the time records from the tape as it passes them and mark them on special ruled sheets and then pass the sheets to the round table wiiirli is shown adjacent to the tape bench in the drawing opposite, where two men operating adding ma- chines calculate the speed in miles per hour and reckon special lap speeds, for which prizes are awarded.

Directh- behind the calculators' table is another which gives information to the press and announces the winners to those not in the stand. This is in Group No. 4, Dissemination of Knowl- edge. There is also another lap-sheet for giving information to the scoreboard and the grandstands. Many telephones are provided for sending or getting in- formation from the pits.

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��Backing an Automobile into a Moving Garage

II M illustration shows a puzzle recently placecL on the market. In a glass-covered circular box two mo\able ob- jects are enclosed. They represent an automobile and a ga- rage, and the object i^ to get them dove- tailetl into each other. The floor of the box is of polished wood,

It requires deft manipulation to get whlch makes the task

��apparatus so that the the automobile fitted into the garage more difficult.

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