Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/133

 The Versatility of a Pocket Comb

��It rivals an acrobat in the number of things it can do

���As a toilet accessory the comb takes the place of a nail file and an orange \v for cleaning the nails. In the center picture it is showii used as a six-

��ood stick ■inch rule

���Above : No need to hunt around for a buttonhook if this comb is in your vest p>ocket. It is provided with a hooked end which will answer the purp>ose to perfection. It will also open the beer bottle or the envelope with equal ease

��UNDER the ingenious care of an in- ventor the ordinary pocket comb has developed into a combination tool uith nine known uses and any number of unknown ones. It can open bottles and letters, button your shoes, measure and rule Hnes, clean your fingernails and file lem, turn on the automobile lights, take your hair just as well as it ever did before its nine-sided usefulness was discovered. The inventor is F. O. von Tobel, of New ^ ork. When the tool is used as a compass one end is attached to a board and a pencil is inserted in the buttonhook end. The pencil is then moved and circles are drawn. The tool is marked off in a scale six inches long. The nail file is directly above the teeth, on the under side of the scale.
 * he place of a compass, and finally, comb

��On the left is a photograph of the inventor, F. O. von Tobel, showing that the ver- satility of the comb has not robbed it of its original hair- smoothing ability. Other uses for the comb are numerous and easily discoverable by the owner of the treasxare

��Scrubbing Brushes by the Mile for Cleaning Locomotives

THE six-ton industrial locomotives of a Western railroad often come in to the inspectors for repairs and a general cleaning. To get the rough grease knocked ofT, a novel scheme has been devised.

A side track about four hundred feet long has been unused for a long time, and on this there has sprung up a dense growth of woody stalked weeds.

When the engine is run slowly back and forth over this natural tooth-brush, the stalks slap around among the rods like long withes. Wind and rain soon clean up and restore the damaged brush and new weeds are always growing. Thus, while conserving natural resources in weeds the railroad is also conserving overalls.

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