Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/764

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��Popular Science Monthly

���A heated moistened pad is guided over the wall and the old paper peels off in strips

Steam-Heat the Wallpaper and then Tear It off in Strips

REMOVING old wallpaper from a room is always a tedious job; but a steam- heating appliance has been invented by Nathan Rubenstein which does away with the inconveniences of other methods. The appliance, first of all, can steam heat the paper to a very high temperature. The steam slightly moistens the paper at the same time, so that an entire strip can be peeled off at once.

The steam, generated in a boiler by a gasoline burner, is conveyed by a hose to a sheet- iron block which is brought flat up against the wall. The block is perforated and the holes are covered by a cloth pad. Some of the steam which is fed into the block will penetrate through the holes and slightly moisten the cloth. When the hot moist cloth is guided slowly over the wallpaper, the heat cracks ofif the glue, the moisture helping the process, and the paper can be readily skinned off without the usual slopping.

��Measurements of the Valleys of the Deep

A MOST peculiar fact about the oceans of the world is that the largest depres- sions are to be found near the coastlines. The three largest of these are all in the Pacific, two of them being near island coast- lines. The "Swire Deep," just off the Philippines, measures no less than thirty- three thousand feet from the surface of the ocean to the bottom. This is just three thousand feet deeper than Mount Everest, in Asia, is high. The "Aldridge Deep" in the South Pacific ranks next to this, being nearly thirty-one thousand feet deep. The third is the "Tuscarora Deep" near Japan, which soundings indicate to be twenty- seven thousand, six hundred feet in depth. This would then make the bottom of the Tuscarora Deep over two and three-eighths miles below the average level of the bottom of the ocean.

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��The Newest Barrel for Storing Dry Stuffs Is Collapsible

O picnic is complete without a col- lapsible aluminum drinking cup. The latest adaptation of the idea assumes the form of a collapsible barrel or cask for pack- ing or storing articles such as nails, horse- shoes, vegetables, or anything that does not require a waterproof receptacle.

The barrel, when flattened out, may be stored in any convenient nook or corner, or on a shelf and will take up little room. To open it out for use it is necessary only to pull out both ends. There are five sections ordinarily, al- though the number of sections is not arbitrarily limited. These sections lock auto- matically when they are pulled out into position, so that when the barrel is moved or rolled about there is no danger of their collapsing of their own • accord.

In the head of the barrel is a panel which, besides reinforcing the head, is used to receive addresses when the barrel is used for shipping pur- poses, or for information to clerks in the shop or storage house concerning the contents, or for ad- vertising matter.

���POSITION WHEN IN USE.

��Above : The barrel opened out for use. Below: The sections telescoped for storing away

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