Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/954

 940

��ropiihtr Science Monthly

��A Makeshift Syphon Fashioned from Paper Tubes and a Thread Spool

THE following plan proved very success- ful for drawing wine from a jar without disturbing the sediments, at a time when a syphon was not available. A li-in. hole was bored in the side of a common spool on a 45 dcg. angle with the hole already running through the spool. I then rolled a couple of sheets of clean paper into tubes and inserted one into ihc hole just bored and the other into the other hole, making the syphon in the form of an inverted V. The hole in the top of spool was tightly corked and my make- shift syphon was ready for business. That it proved satisfactory goes without saying. Such a syphon can be utilized in photogra- phy for removing the clear fluid from mixed chemicals. — Edwi.x R. Mason.

��Utilizing the Waste Heat from an Open Fireplace

ALMOST all the heat produced in a fire- I^lace located in a wall between the living-room and the dining-room of a certain house was used for heating the water for the bath and to heat the dining-room in the following manner: A coil of pipe was put in the opening just back of the flames

���mantel was placed a fireiess cooker, built into the chimney-breast directly against the brick and lined with jisbestos. The

��A coil of pipe is run in the fireplace to heat the water in the range boiler

and connected to a range-boiler. Pipes were run from the boiler to the bath and sink. Instead of a solid brick back to the fireplace a thin wall of metal was inserted in the dining-room side. A false mantel with open grill-work covered the metal wall. /Xbove the grill-work and on the

���On the opposite side and in the dining-room is a false fireplace with a thin backwall

exterior finish of the cooker was made ornamental so that it did not look at all like a cooking utensil. — Mrs. H. Coldwater.

��Eliminating Trouble with Toilet Flush-Tanks

MUCH trouble is experienced with toilet flush-tanks where the chain pull is installetl. Wiu'n the bowl is flushed the chain is nearly always piflled down and outwards instead of straight down, as it should be pulled. When the chain is pulled outward it will eventually throw the inner working parts out of line, thereby preventing the valve from closing tighlK-. A good way to a\'oid this is to turn a screw-eye into the bottom cxige ot the flush-box (lirectK- under the arm to which the chain is fastened, running the chain through this screw-eye. This prevents th.e chain from being pulled out\vard when flushing the bowl.

��Aluminum Alloy for Patterns and Core Boxes

A MIXTURE of 130 parts aluminum. 25 p.irts zinc and 10 parts ferro-zinc is an excellent alloy from which to make pat- terns and core boxes. It also makes a casting that is strong and light and at the same tinu- inexpensi\'e. It is easih- mixed in the crucible .mil the resultant met.il has a very attractive smooth finish.

�� �