To convert an ordinary wash boiler into a washing machine, an inventor has patented a metal cone, perforated at the top, so that jets of boiling water are forced through clothing.
An electrical annunciator device, operated by push buttons on chairs throughout a hall, is working successfully in Holland to auction eggs without the usual noise and confusion of such sales.
Both the moistening and sealing of letters is done in a single operation by a new office implement, in which a dampened roller passes under the flaps, ahead of a larger one, that closes them.
To enable automobiles to pull themselves up hills or out of soft spots in roads, a South Dakota inventor has patented a windlass which may be attached to the rear hub of the car and operated by a motor.
A Seattle man has invented a device which keeps automobiles from skidding on wet pavements. There is a receptacle under the rear seat of the car in which sand is placed, and, by pressing a pedal on the floor of the car, the sand is released and spread in front of the rear wheels, giving instant traction.
A tin hood which fits over a rooster’s head and neck in such a way as to prevent the fowl from heralding the dawn has been invented. A rooster did too much early-morning crowing near a police station, and one of the policemen devised the invention, which is said to work perfectly, and without injuring the rooster.
A pump that not only pumps up an automobile tire within a few minutes, but that keeps the tire at that pressure, regardless of large punctures, is a new invention. The pump can be attached to the hub of the wheel in less than a minute. It works on the rotary-pump principle, each revolution of the wheel, while running the car, driving air into the tire.
In putting up tall buildings, contractors have had a problem in boring holes in steel beams wherein to place the rivets, those little bands of steel that are vital to the erection of skyscrapers. By putting a trained army of drillers at work, the contractor has been able to drill correctly probably five hundred holes a day. A new machine, invented by a Los Angeles man, has demonstrated that it can bore thirty perfect holes in two and one-half minutes, requiring in the operation the services of one man and a dynamo generating sixteen and one-half horse power. This boring is done in a steel beam three inches thick. The gang drill, as it is called, can also be used on iron pipes. It is said that one man using the machine can do the work of ten, not only cheaper, but more accurately.