Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/482

 Cleaning a Bowling Ball Quickly Without Injuring Its Surface

IT often requires much time and pa- tience to keep the surfaces of bowling balls clean and round and smooth. One alley manager found this cleaning ex-

���Place the steel wool in the cup, then turn the ball on it until the surface is clean

pense amounted to a considerable sum, so to reduce the time cost he devised the cleaning stand shown. It is not necessary to have such an elaborate stand as the one pictured, since the only re- quirement is a concave or semi-spherical depression turned in the end of a post or of a piece of wood, which is large enough to hold the balls securely and with a little larger circumference than that of the balls to be cleaned. Into the depression place a pad of steel wool of sufficient fineness to clean the balls without marring the surface. A ball placed in this and given a whirl or a few turns, will be quickly cleaned. Afterwards it should be rubbed with an old towel.

Almost every alley will have an old post used to set a ball in for the players. Such a post is just the thing, but if it is not available, one can be turned for the purpose. In turning a post be sure that the concave correctly fits the surface of the ball.— S. E. Burkktt.

��A Primer for Carrying in a Motor- cycle Tool Box

PRIMING devices are not always at hand for the motorcyclist, and on a cold morning trouble follows if a rich mixture cannot be drawn into the cylin- der. While my method may be a very crude one, it has helped me in many in- stances. I procured a small vial or bottle of sufficient size for one charge. This, I used to catch the gasoline from the drip cock and to transfer it to the cylinder through a spark-plug hole. I keep the glass vial in a piece of pipe which is care- fully corked on both ends to prevent possible breakage — Le Conte Talley.

��How to Make a Flashlight of Dazzling Brilliancy

AN excellent flash powder which pro- i. duces a light of dazzling brilliancy, may be made by mixing equal quantities of magnesium dust and powdered chlorate of potash. Place the mixture on a piece of asbestos paper, and ignite it with a long wax taper. In a darkened room the sud- denness and extreme brilliancy of the flash will dazzle everyone and produce a startling effect.

Supplying a Rib-Holding Piece to an Umbrella

AN umbrella-mender being without the Xjl proper fitting to replace the upper rib-holding por- tion, marked A in the illustration, searched through his kit until he found a lower sec- tio.n, B, that would fit the shank. As the portion of the shank under the upper rib-holding piece was rusty and somewhat thin, with a punch he easily drove a hole through it

and the fitting at the same time. A nail was inserted and clinched. When the ribs were assembled the umbrella worked as well as usual.— James M. Kane.

���Noil or bred

��Changing umbrella parts to make necessary repairs

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