Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/429

 Popular Science Monthly

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��An Overhead Trolley System for the Hot Iron

THE average housewife has already dis- covered that the electric or gas iron is a vast improvement over the other types which necessitate walk- ing back and forth be- tvseen the iron-board and the stove. But where gas and "electricity are not available it is still possible to eliminate those many steps taken during the ironing process.

By means of the trolley system shown in the illus- tration below the iron may be sent back to the stove when it is cold and a hot one brought in its place with "press the button" simplicity and rapidit>'. Moreover, the iron is held at just the proper height when moved from it so that

��The fan turns or stops with the fly- wheel of the machine

��the hand is re- no iron-stand is necessary and all lifting is obviated. The saving in energy' which this effects may not be so apparent as the elimination of steps, but it is considerable nevertheless.

The iron is suspended by a rod from a carriage which tra\els on a track supported by t\vo end uprights, one of which (the left one) has a spring which permits the iron to be brought down to the job and forces it up out of the way when the iron is released by the hand. The rod from which the iron is suspended can be adjusted to any height desired, so that the iron can be used on ironing-boards of all sizes and heights. The inventor is W. H. Olver, of Oshkosh, Wis.

��A Fan on the Sewmg Machine — A New Idea for the Factory

ALTHOUGH the "sweatshop" is fast l\ becoming nothing but an unpleasant memory, even in the largest of cities, yet the life of the sew- ing machine operators in factories is far from enviable, especially i n hot weather. Even if electric fans are installed throughout the place, only the lucky- ones who are located in the path- way of the breeze are benefited. But ofMinneapHDlis, Minn., has evolved a plan by which each individual op- erator may be kept cool and as com-
 * . Lyle D. Corey,
 * • ' fortable as possible

during the sweltering heat.

He has invented a fan which is attached to the fl>-^vheel of the sewing machine. The fan is composed of two circular rims, betAveen which fan-blades are pivoted. The inner rim is channel-shaped and fits over the flN-vvheel. A lever and links are provided for contracting the rims to fit over the fly-wheel and for limiting the move- ments of the fan-blades so that the air currents may be controlled. The fan is easily detached when not required for use.

���'RACK RAIL

���The iron is suspended by a rod from a carriage whidi travels on a track between the board and the stove

��Flmt-and-Steel — The Matches of Yesterday

BRANDON, a small town in Suffolk, England, still supplies the world with flint-and-steel tinder boxes, which even the de\eloped fric- tion matches of to-day have not made obsolete. Elderly i^ersons can still tell us about the time when flint-and-steel were* uni- versally used; when old rags had to be charred for tinder, and when the sparks had to fly to get these to catch fire. Bran- don flints have always been justly famous. They were used in the kitchens at home, and on cannons in the wars. They saw service at Waterloo, in the Cri- mean War, and even as late as in the South African campaign. The first one was made in 1827.

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