Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/271

 Popular Science Monthly

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��A Puncture-Proof, Bullet-Proof, Blow- out-Proof, Skid-Proof Tire

FROM Washington there comes the photograph which is reproduced here- with, showing a Seattle citizen's ideas on keeping pneumatic tires out of harm's way and yet getting a little more service from them than could be obtained if they were locked up in a dark room in an atmosphere of nitro- gen. To accomplish his pur pose the inventor uses ioo to 150 pounds (estimated) of a "special grade steel" for each tire, which might seem ex- cessive to the ordinary mind, but, having done so, he has the satisfaction of announcing that the tire by this heroic means is rendered non-skid, puncture-proof, bullet-proof — "of great bene- fit to the warring countries" — stone-bruise and blowout-proof and is endowed with four ordi- nary rubber-tire lifetimes. In- cidentally, in case that anybody should venture to place a wagon- wheel steel tire in bold competi- tion with his invention, he assures you that it will wear out three such, this referring perhaps mainly to a special type of his pro- tector which he has taken the extra trouble of devising for "un-inflated" rubber tires.

���Encased in this armor a tire should have a chance to die of old age

��The question arises : Given leeway to use 100 pounds of extra material, could a tire- maker produce anything better than this protected tire? The inventor apparently challenges them, one and all. He bravely uses thirty-six steel spacers draped around the tire six inches apart, and on this for-

midable base he strings about thirty

feet of heavy coil springs and forty feet of lighter grade, whereas one lock, three clamps and twelve rods with threaded joints serve to hold the armor so formed tightly against the heaving breast of the poor tire, ordinarily so much abused. Springs are springs, he reasons, and keep the natural resilience of the tire unimpaired, even if expected to work crosswise. Careful inspection of his photograph reveals, however, that steel rope is used instead of the lighter coil spring along the least visible portion of the cir- cumference, but this is ap- parently an emergency arrange- ment for publicity purposes only.

���The spinal column of the whale mounted for exhibition at Monterey consists of forty-six sections. There are fourteen ribs

��How Monterey Turned a Whale into One of the City's Sights

MONTEREY, California, has solved the question of what to do with a stray whale that is washed up on shore. After disposing of the flesh and oil to a refinery, the bones may be mounted on shore and kept as a permanent natural history exhibit.

That is what the city officials did with a whale which was washed ashore there. It was welcomed with open arms and the bones were saved as an educational feature for the benefit of the school children of the city and for interested adults.

Since there was no build- ing available large enough to accommodate it, it was set up in an open lot and fenced in.

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