Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/408

 392

��Popular Science Monthly

���Testing the hearing of a soldier with the aid of a machine which regulates the length of sound waves

��Buy Good Meat and Chop It Yourself

TWO series of investiga- tions of ten samples each of Hamburger steak, made by the Department of Agriculture, revealed the fact that six samples of the first and five of the second series yielded counts of more than ten million microbes per gram. A great many differ- ent kinds of bacteria were found and the conclusion was reached that a large amount of Hamburger steak sold in the market is unfit for food. The Department ad- vises that the housewife buy good cuts and chop it herself.

��Deafened by Shell Fire, but Cured by a New Sound Machine

WHEN the big guns fire, not only are men before it killed, but hundreds of those behind it lose their hearing, due to the terrific noise of the explosion. The roar of a barrage fire is like a million boiler factories plus a hundred thousand pneu- matic riveters. Little wonder is it that the ears can not with- stand the noise.

In Europe are thou- sands of shell-deafen- ed soldiers. In the accompanying photo- graph a soldier is shown facing an ap- paratus for graduat- ing and applying the sound waves. With the aid of this ma- chine the nurse is able to know just how deaf her patient is and to what sounds he re- sponds most quickly. It is a slow and pains- taking method of treatment, but it has resulted in a number of cured cases.

In fact, the deaf- ness resulting from the battle noises is, in the majority of cases, only temporary.

���A fishing pier with a seat and

a foot rest to prevent the men

being pulled overboard

��from

��Anchoring the Fisherman to the Fishing Pier

AFTER several fishermen had been . pulled off the Redondo Beach pier, near Los Angeles, California, by large fish, the city built a new pier with special pro- visions for keeping fishermen anchored to it so that "the biggest fish that ever was caught" will no longer be able to get away with bait, hook and line as has so often happened in the past. The pier is con- structed of reinforced concrete. Around its outer edge is a seat for the fishermen, and a concrete rim on the foot rest enables the men to hook their boot heels over it while fishing.

Fish weighing as much as two hundred and ninety pounds have been caught from this pier even before it was made safe for the fishermen. The big fish haven't called that way lately. But when they do they will find the fishermen anchored to their posts, ready to pull them on land.

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