Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/249

 Popular Science Monthly

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��Getting Your Change by Machine From the Cashier

IN busy stores and restaurants of the pay- at-the-desk variety, a new device for handing change back to the customers is proving popular. You simply hand in the check and the money through the cashier's window. When she has made the change she de- posits it in the open- ing of a cylinder, as shown in the illus- tration. By giving a slight upward push on the bottom of the cylinder you cause the two halves of the false bottom of the cylinder to open out, and the coin drops down into your palm. Or you can obtain your change in the usual way, by sliding it off the opening of the cylin- der into your hand. Of course the device will not work with bills or soda checks.

���Above : The coin- dropping device in operation. At right: The device in detail

��A Fishing Light to Lure the Fish to the Bait

WE have the word of the fishermen for it that fish are not unlike other creatures of the earth in regard to curiosity. They are as interested in what goes on below sea level in their subterranean home as we are in what takes place above it.

���The fish

hook with

its bait floats

just in front of

the light. The depths

are adjusted by cork floats

��William J. Ryan, of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, has made good use of this bit of fish psychology in devising his fishing ap- paratus. He suspends an electric light and a fish hook near each other under the water. The fish are attracted to the light like moths to a flame. Near the light they see the bait, investi- gate, and then re- pent when they find themselves on land. Within a wooden box large enough to hold the entire ap- paratus the inventor places two batteries. Wires run from these batteries to a lamp Which is suspended in the water. Rub- ber tubing around the wire keeps out the water, and so does a glass jar about the lamp. The

depth of the light and the hook in the water is ad- justed by cork floats. Need- less to say, the brighter the light the more curious and careless are the fish, all of which delights the fisherman.

It Costs a Fortune to Keep French Army Officers in Cars

JOY riding seems to be a regular sport of French army officers. According to charges of reckless extravagance made against the touring-car section of the French army, the officers think that the cars they use are their own private prop- erty. Indeed, competition is rampant, each officer wanting the best machine and the most expensive assortment of acces- sories, says the report. The cost of twenty-six cars for the general head- quarters staff cost one hundred and seventy thousand dollars. Three thousand dollars is the annual upkeep per car. The only remedy, as France now sees it, is to refuse to allow any officer, no matter what his rank, to have a personal car.

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