Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/926

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��Popular Science Monthly

���Several tons of stones were used to insure the safety of these henhouses. Care was taken to place the stones directly above the roof supports of the partitions to prevent sagging

��Anchoring the Henhouse in Cyclone Districts

ARANCHP:R in Southern California had been troubled by the severe wind- storms of that section, which threatened to wreck his henhouses. FinalK- he thought of weighting down the roofs with hirge boulders weighing from thirty to fifty pounds. He was careful to place them directly above the roof supports, that is above the four walls and the partitions.

��A British Motor-Bus Run on Ordinary Coal Gas

THE scarcity' of gasolino in England and its consequent high i^rice has caused the owner of the mcHor-bus, shown in the accompanying illustration, to use ordinary coal gas to drive it. This is new in applica- tion yet old in principle. Many American automobile manufacturers have used coal gas to test their motors, because it is considerably cheaper than gasoline now.

The special fea- ture of the method illustrated here is that the gas is car- ried under low pres- sure in a large bag strajiped to the roof of the 'bus, instead of in steel cylin- ders at high pressure. This eliminates thecost of com pressing the gas and enables it to be fed into the bag direct from the town sujiply

���The gas is carried under low pressure in a large bag strapped to the roof of the 'bus

��tank line anywhere along the route. A flexible jiiiie is used to convey the gas from the bag to the engine intake mani- fold just above the throttle, the function of the carbureter being eliminated, except to provide a sufficient amount of air to mix with the gas fuel. An ordinary' cock, placed in the gas line close to the motor and directh- coupled to the throttle-valve Ie\'er, controls the supply in accordance with the engine speed.

The gas bag, a simple canvas sack w ith a rubber insertion, does not offer much head resistance, because it giv^es with the wind and presents a streamline form. It holds four hundred and fifty cubic feet of gas, which is sufficient to dri\e the 'bus for twelve miles without refilling. It is said that by test tiic cost of gas fuel for the 'bus is but one cent a mile, while with gasoline it is six cents per mile.

Many other tests of ordinary town gas for running automobiles have been made both here and in England. A Glasgow

resident ran his automobile on ordinary town gas )\ remo\ing the jet nozzle of the gasoline carbure- ter and substi- tuting a grilled plate. This was ilone to l)re.ik up the flow of gas and to enable the air to mix with it prop- erly. A IcNcr on t h e steering wheel controlled the amounlof giis.

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