Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/879

 Popular Science Monthly

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��A Tunnel Is Coming. On with the Fresh -Air Mask

LOCOMOTIVE engineers of trains ^ which pass through long tunnels or snow sheds often suffer from lack of pure air. The smoke and the exhaust gases pollute the stagnant air in the tunnel and make it almost suffocating. To remedy this condition an engineer of the Southern Pacific Com- pany invented a device which is shown in the accompany- ing illustra- tion. A funnel fitting over the nose and mouth of the engineer is connected by means of a rubber tube 'iWith an air- pipe which runs to the

main air reservoir of the air brake system. A small cut-out cock in the pipe permits proper regulation of the supply of air.

Fold Up the Propeller When You Want to Row

���The engineer in this picture regales himself with pure air while his train runs through a snow shed

��The propeller is not situated aft, but amidships. The shaft protrudes through an encased slot in the bottom. The casing of the slot is proportioned so that, when the propeller is not needed, or when it drags bottom in shallow water, both propeller and exposed shaft can be lifted up out of the way of rocks and sand. The casing which is built along the center

of the floor is water-tight. The toggle- jointed shaft from the en- gine enters it at the forward end through a water-tight journal.

The pro- peller and shaft are in- geniously brought in- board by a lever, the handle of which is sit- uated con- veniently on the outside of the metal casing. The handle works a pivot which communicates with the inner side of the casing.

This Isn't the Only War Which Has Caused Prices to Soar

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��AVIGATING small motor boats in the waters of Hudson Bay and the contributory rivers is not easy. Shoals mean frequent portaging. The situation has stimulated a Canadian inventor to bring out a small engine for rowboats, the propeller of which can be lifted up into the boat by the twisting of a handle.

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���In shoal water the propeller and shaft can be lifted out of harm's way into a water-proof metal jacket

��N these days of tribulation, when everything rises but father's wages, we all very consistently bemoan the high cost of living. But this is not the first and only time that prices have been high. During the Civil War wages ran from $1.12 a day for laborers, to $2 a day for skilled workmen. This, however, did not prevent a shave from cost- ing ten cents, or a haircut twenty cents. Hotel rates were .$1.50 to $2 a day, and ice, which was considered a great luxury, was supplied at fifty cents a week for ten pounds daily. Strangely enough sugar was the chief bone of contention in those days, too, and it cost twelve to fifteen cents a pound.

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