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Show I I w ' l Y ' H POPULAR SCIENCE M ' : M I The Latest Form of .Fish Hook. . As the summer advances the fisherman fisher-man begins to take account of stock and lay in Ms supply of new,, tackle ready for the summer's sport. While the genuine sportsman believes in' giving the gariiey bass 'and trout a fair chance for his life and only tempts the fish with the fly on a single hook, some less scrupulous ones will find use for the little wire device whkK is here pictured, The hook is here seen exposed, with the .spring arms distended dis-tended and locked open y the bend in the shank of the hook. ' As soon as the hook is disturbed the spring arm to which the line, is secured expands to throw' the sharp pointed wire fingers fin-gers together at a point beneath the ber as to secure even from soft wood a largely increased toughness and hardness. The process,, says the Liverpool Liv-erpool Post, is described as one of vulcanizing, vul-canizing, comparable in some respects with Bessemer's- proces's'o'f converting iron into steel. The treatment MS which the timber is subjected is, roughly speaking, that of saturation at. boiling point with a solution of sugar,' the water being afterward evaporated at a high temperature.- The result is to leave the pores ad interstices of-the of-the wood filled with solid matter, and' the timber- vulcanized, preserved and seasoned. The nature of moderately soft wood, it is claimed, is in this way changed to a tough and hard, subf stance,, -without brittleness,' and also without any tendency to split or crack.' It is also rendered remarkably impervious im-pervious to water. Hard woods simi-( larly treated derive similar benefits. Moreover, it is claimed that the process proc-ess may be completed and timber turned out ready for use in a few days. , ': To Snuff Out Incipient Fire. The first few minutes when a fire starts to burn in a building are worth hours after it gets under good headway, head-way, and even a rug or small stream of water instantly applied will quench a blaze which, if attacked a little later with a heavy stream of water, will continue to burn. Taking this fact into consideration, a Western inventor invent-or has designed an attachment for a hose reel which will aid greatly in snuffing out an incipient blaze. It is Intended for use in buildings having lines of hose reeled up and connected with a stand-pipe or other source ol supply, where it has hitherto been necessary nec-essary for one person to stand at the valves to open it after the hose is completely withdrawn from the reel, or else the man handling the nozzle must return and open the port after he has unwound the hose. With this device the valve is opened automatically automati-cally the instant the last layer of hose falls from the reel. This is accom- Touching the Hook Springs the Trap, bait. The inventor suggests that the arrangement will also be useful for catching animals and birds. Valuable Artificial Fuel. Dr. M. J. Gahan, of Omaha, Neb., has completed tests and announces that as. a result of his experiments he is able to produce an artificial anthracite anthra-cite equal in all respects to the real article and that the product he has invented can be manufactured and put upon the market much cheaper than anthracite or even bituminous coals. Dr, Gahan has completed the manufacture manu-facture of 800 pounds of his coal substitute. sub-stitute. The "coal" is of a gray greenish green-ish hue, not unlike moldy bread in ap- npirlnpp The article is nrorlnced from chemicals, all pf which, but one, the inventor says, can be found in any agricultural state. The artificial coal burns with a bluish flame and its heating capacity is said to be twice that of anthracite and will last. 20 per cent longer time... Dr. Qahan is now working, to. .produce a fuel similar -to LitaminouB coal! " '"7" Demand for Locc-motives Increasing. .. Within thelast four years, says, the 'Manufacturers;.-Record,- the demand-iipon demand-iipon tlje locomotive capacity .of. the 'railroads of the: country has increased at' such ' an 'astounding rate that ' engines en-gines cannot be kept off the road long enough or proper repairs, and the number of engines' thrown into the scrap heap or consumed in' service will, iricrease' greatly beyond the ica-pacity ica-pacity of the builders to supply their places. Notwithstanding the. large increase in-crease in locomotive building, every locomotive lo-comotive builder . in the country is rushed, with ...orders. It is estimated by, a gentleman connected with One of : tbe : largest locomotive works in the country-that the total number of engines. : built in the United States during 1902 was 3,900, or thirteen ;en; gines for each working day. In 1901 the 'output iwas '3,384, and 337 of that number were for export. f' Shipping Crate or-Case. , Dealers in eggs, berries and small fruits know by experience how difficult diffi-cult it is to inspect the contents of a crate' beneath the top layer of baskets, bas-kets, and often the salesman's word has to be accepted as to the quality of the goods,, the' only recourse of the buyer in .case of poor stock lying in rebates, which the seller sometimes "refuses to grant. Possibly disputes of this character will not arise if the crate recently . placed on the market by a Kentuckian were put into general For Use on Fire Hose Reels. . plished by means of a spring pressed rod, which is held in a contracted position posi-tion by the last length of hose, and it is obvious that as soon as the reei is empty the spring will' project the rod, which' strikes against the lever beneath; as the reel revolves, and opens the valve to permit the water to flow, through the hose, . . . American Watches in Lead. ; American manufacturers are now putting on the market a watch the size of a 5-cent ptece, all of the parts made by,. machinery. Small watches; have heretofore been made almost exclusively ex-clusively by hand and by the Swiss, but with the demonstration that we can make good timepieces of diminu- tive size and by machinery the Swiss will be compelled to Invent new attractions at-tractions for their goods. ' Science and Invention. v On many railways cement ties are displacing wooden ties. Pvr,l" Rraim nf ' the TTn I voroltv nf Strassburg has undertaken to heat it room in Munich by a flash light nil Nuremburg, 100 miles distant. " The average age at death has in-; creased, from eighteen . years in the. sixteenth century to thirty-five and a, half years in the present one. The trolley car is not drawn -' or pushed- by the electric current at all,' but is lifted again and. again by the attraction of magnets for the armature coils of the motor. "A" lot of typewritten matter wa3. stored in a slightly damp vault for six months. On removal the paper and gall ink signatures were in best' of condition, ;.but all trace of typewriting had disappeared. It is proposed in France to establish suuierranean observatories by drilling miles into the earth with oil well machinery. In these the strata, temperature tem-perature and gasses at various depths would be studied. There was a nearly even number of electrical and gasoline motors in the National German Automobile exposition exposi-tion just closed in Berlin. WitU scarcely an exception the vehicles carried the motor in front, high above the axle. A new featuie was rubber tires with steel soles. Exposes Each Layer for Inspection. use. As will be seen, the new arrangement ar-rangement makes it possible to expose ex-pose each tier of the berries or fruit to inspection, so there is no excuse for the purchase of damaged goods. Each section of this crate is attached to the next by a. pair of pivoted bars, which aid in supporting the sections in either a closed or open position. In the illustration the new crate is shown partially unfolded, with the side bars lying in both positions. Vulcanized Timber In England. A considerable amount of interest has been aroused by the announcement announce-ment of a method of so treating tim- |