Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/686

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��Popular Science Monthly

��Don't Let Your Baby Suck the Telephone Cord!

HELLO! Hello! Is this the com- plaint department?" A woman's voice, clearly in a state of great irritation, judging from the rising pitch and the increasing explosiveness of her utterance, almost screamed these words to the com- plaint clerk of the telephone company. He gave an affirmative answer and,

interrupted by queer ^

crackling sounds, and a steady buzz, the voice at the other end of the line poured a string of complaints into his ear.

Bitterly she com- plained of the opera- tor, of poor connec- tions, noises in the telephone and many other things which, to the experienced clerk, clearly spelled a short-circuit some- where on the sub- scriber's line.

Politely he suggested to the woman to examine the green cord of her telephone and to inform him whether it showed a dark and wet spot.

"Yes, it does," came the answer. "Baby was playing with the cord this morning and took it in her mouth, sucking at it for a while. Surely there can be no harm in that!"

The complaint clerk, who had heard the same story many times, was callous. Irate ladies who complained of the service and possessed babies were as nothing to him. If people did foolish things and then upbraided the company, why should he care?

Placidly he informed the complain- ing one that the baby, by sucking at the cord, had caused a short-circuit some- where in the line. The insulating fabric around the wires, when thoroughly mois- tened, had become a conductor of elec- tricity. He advised the woman to dry the spot by holding it for a while near a hot iron and not to let Baby suck the green cord again, unless she was willing to go to the trouble of drying out the wire every time Baby committed the offense.

���This shows how baby caused a short- circuit in the Hne by sucking the cord

��A New Safety Lock Suitable for Sewing-Machine Treadles

PROBABLY the greatest element of fatigue occasioned by running a sewing machine is that of exerting a con- stant foot pressure on the treadle while the machine is in operation. To stop the machine, the op- erator is forced to ele- vate the sole and lower the heel of her foot. In case of run- ning a needle into the finger, the instinc- tive motion is to draw away, but she would be forced to make the reverse motion.

Mr. Frank B. Gil- breth, of Providence, R. I., an efficiency engineer, has intro- duced a device which can be advantageous- ly applied to any sew- ing machine where the operator does not have to stop the machine oftener than every four minutes. To start the machine, the operator simply pushes her foot down on the treadle. The hooklike device grasps and locks the treadle. To release the lock, the operator has only to drop her foot from the foot rest shown on to the lever. This knocks the catch off the trea- dle and stops the machine.

���This device starts and stops a sewing ma- chine without causing unnecessary fatigue

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