Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/78

 64

��Popular Science MontJily

��The Official City Fly-Catcher of Redlands, California

WHEN A. E. Chapman, an inventor, offered his first patent fly-trap for sale in Redlands, California, he did not have the least idea that he was taking the first step in creating a new city office, the only one of the kind in the entire country.

W'itli the inven- tion of his new death-trap for Hies came the new offi- cial position of city fly-catcher. Chap- man, the inventor, was appointed at a salary of $io a week, the office being in existence nine months each year. Chapman began work by placing scores of traps at street in- tersections, around reistaurants, and in the rear of li\'ery- stal)les.

The bait placed in the traps was fresh canned fruit, syrup, sugared water, sprinkled

���ASM ALL boy who was designing mechanical noN'cllies pro- duced a five-wheel velocipede tandem from the parts of two machines.

One of the \elocipedes met with an accident which put its front wheel out of use bc\ond repair. The other machine was sound, however, and the problem was how to construct a \ehi(Ii- which woukl jiermit IkjIIi the boys to ride.

The connection lictween the front fork of each machine was loosened, the Ijolts reino\e(i with a

��A professional fiy-catcher who extermi- nates millions of flies each year

The Five-Wheeled Velocipede clever at

��with cinnamon, watermelon, or fresh

meals. The flies crowded into the cages

— and to their deaths.

The carcasses of the flies are removed

each morning by the official fly-catcher.

He decided that he would estimate their number by enum- erating them in units of liquid measure. During the first year be- tween two hundred and forty and two hundred and forty- five gallons were gathered, on the basis of fifty thou- sand to seventy- five thousand car- casses to the gallon. Taking an average of sixty thousand to the gallon, be- tween 14,400,000 and 14,700,000 were coaxed to their deaths in a year.

Mr. C h a p m a n built a "jumbo" trap, which he had in a "Made in Red- lands" (lay parafle, inside of which are two small traps and a monster home- made fly.

���The loss of a velocipede's front

wheel suggested this combination of

two machines

��monkey-wrench and the connection made again with the rear of each velocijX'de turned ui)side down. This made it neces- sary to remove the saddles, and the>- were placed on the rear forks close to the rear axle. Then the prolilem was how to connect the two machines to form a tandem. It was ac- complished by ro- mo\ing the rear axle of the leading m,i- cliine and sliiiping it through the openings in the front h)rk of machine number two. The axle was then replaced and (he wheels ixilted on.

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