Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/769

 Popular Science Monthly

��Handling Hot Firebricks Asbestos Mittens

��with

��AT 7KEX it becomes necessary to repair VV the firebrick arch in the fire-box

��fire is knocked out

��of a locomotive the and steam blown down to about half- gage pressure. Then the blower is turned on and a man enters the fire-box to make the necessary re- pairs The heat is intense and is bear- able for a short time only owing to the stream of cold air blown into the fire-box by the blower. The man must handle the hot firebricks quickly, yet gently enough to prevent their breakage. To ena- ble him to do this he wears mittens of

canvas with a protective layer of asbestos on the palm side to avoid burning his hands.

These mittens can be made for about thirty-five cents a pair, and some of the large railroads have introduced their use as a matter of economy. Fifteen loco- motives can be repaired before these gloves wear out, so that the cost for each locomotive is about two and one-third cents. This is a profitable investment. The injur>' to the hot firebricks, when carelessly handled, as they would be without gloves, would represent a loss many times greater than the cost of the mittens. In fact it would be very difficult to handle them at all, since the bricks hold the heat for a long time.

Asbestos is be- coming more and more a necessity in modern indus- try, both for small conveniences and large apparatus, and this is only one more use.

���Asbestos-lined mittens enable the man to remove and handle the hot firebricks

��753

Telephone and Telegraph Senice in Argentina Held I p by Spiders

Dl RING the dry season in Argentina a certain species of spiders' webs col- lects on the telephone and telegraph wires in enormous quan- tities. As soon as the sun sets they become soaked with dew and cause short circui.s between the wires Eleven pounds v. vight have been swept from four wires o\er a distance of sL\ miles.

��Leglessness Is No Drawback

THE Frenchman is nothing if not ingenious. Here is a poll us answer to the embarrassing question of how to do without legs. It- tricycle with ver>* and a wicker

���Who needs legs anyway? This novel vehicle is a poilu's idea for circumventing leglessness

��consists of a kind of exaggerated handlebars, seat, comfortably mounted on springs be- tween the two back wheels, in place of a saddle. The driving mechanism is repre- sented by a regular bicycle driving-wheel, having handles instead of pedals, mounted between the long handlebars in easy reach of the seat. This drives a countershaft, haA-ing a sprocket at each end, by means of a long chain, which, in turn, is con- jiected with the front wheel by a shorter vertical chain and sprocket. Steer- ing is accomplish- ed in the same manner as steer- ing a bicycle.

It is said that, this machine will make fifteen miles an hour on a good road with a husky, legless "engine." It is thus shown that even legs are not really indisnt^ns- able.

�� �