Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/899

 Popular Science Monthly

��883

���Reclaiming Discarded Metal from Scrap Piles

��T 1

��Drawing the hogs up out of the scalding tub, preparatory to passing them through the machine

��As before mentioned, pickled pigs' feet, and snouts, and tails, are much more palatable because of the absolutely clean condition of the epidermis. The brine is not contam- inated with hair and dirt left on the skin. Even the ears on the hog are polished inside and out.

It is through this cleanliness obtained by new packing processes that it is now possible to make desirable flour for bread from the skin of hogs.

In every pork-packing plant there is a residue left from the process of trying out lard. It is a mixture of fatty tissues and bits of skin. It is called "cracklings" and is very similar to the residue obtained by housewives when frying out bits of grease. These cracklings from a packing plant come ^^ in rather dry form, f**'*^ the various bits having caked together in the proc- ess of squeezing out the grease. It is these cakes that the maker of pigskin flour grinds up. The re- sulting powder is very clean in appearance, and is slightly yellow in color like fine corn-meal. Mixed with a slightly larger por- tion of ordinary flour, this substance makes very rich bread, without additional

"shortening," and is con-.

• i j i °.j ji, Pull the trigger of this

sidered decidedly pala- toy gun and you shoot

table and nutritious. out — a parachute

��HE price of metal has risen to such an extent that many con- cerns are searching their scrap piles in an endeavor to find parts of ma- chinery which may be repaired and put back into use. At one Western mine enough dollies and dies were found in the scrap pile to last three months. They were welded up at a cost of one dollar each. New ones would have cost nine dollars. In the same scrap heap enough short ends of tungsten steel were found and welded together to last a year.

In the scrap pile of a railroad shop

a lot of old locomotive drivers were

found. These had been discarded

because of cracked spokes. The

cracks were welded and the wheels are

again in use. This reclamation of scrap

is made possible by the oxyacetylene

process of welding and cutting. Before

long, searching the scrap pile will be almost

as popular, and perhaps more profitable,

than digging for gold.

��A Toy Gun for the Pacifists. It Shoots An Umbrella

ONE of the latest additions to the list of harmless weapons for the juvenile warriors is a gun which shoots out from its barrel an unfolded umbrella, or para- chute and flag. A strong spring takes the place of powder. The firing mechanism is very similar to that of the ordinary small- caliber revolver. When the gun is ready to be fired the umbrella lies telescoped within the barrel. When the trigger is pulled the hammer is released from its cocked posi- tion, striking the fir- ing pin and releasing the catch holding the umbrella. Thus re- leased the umbrella is forced out of the bar- rel and is unfolded, the ribs which hold the frame out and retain the extended para- chute in shape being attached by cords to the gun.

��� �