Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/940

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

926

��ropiilar Science Muntltly

����A Home-Made Heating Arrangement

NECESSITY required that a house built solely for use in summer weather should also l)e used as a winter home, and the problem of keeping from freezing during the cold months was solved finally by the home-made heating plant illustrated here- with. There was a cooking stove in the kitchen, which could be depended upon to keep the kitchen and a part of the living- room warm. This left the up- stairs totally without heat. There was no hole in the chimney for a furnace pipe, but there were perforations in it on the li\ing and chamber floors.

This suggested the following home-made furnace installation. An ordinary cylinder stove was purchased and installed in the cellar, and a long stove- pipe run from this through holes in the two ceilings to the outlet in the chimney on the second floor. A 9-in. tin pipe was then jacketed outside of the stovepipe, and fastened in the two floors. Tin caps were bought with the larger pipe to fit on either end. Holes I in. in diameter were cut through these caps

all around ^^^^. "^^ retaining

the circle ^^^^^ *"^ ^'°

me LirciL. '"'ffi^^SSa?'^ stovepipe to

The object l)|ll" '^"il|||^ warm the up-

of these per bedrooms

holes was to admit fresh air in the lower end of the pipe and to permit the hot air to escape above.

When the fire was started in the stove in the cillar, the smoke and hot gas traversed the full length of the inner stovepipe, and in so doing healed all the air between it and the outside pipe. While the smoke and gas escaped through the chimne\- in the ordinary way, most of the heat which generally goes up the chimney was caught and radiated in the form of hot air in the upper chamber. Fresh air came up through the holes in the outer ]iipe in the cellar, and after traveling the full length of the distance from the cellar tf) the second floor it spread out as hot air to warm the bedrooms. Thef|ueslion of risk from fire was eliminated by using sheet asbestos wherever the pipes came near or in contact with wt)odwork.

��Starting an Automobile When One Rear Wheel Is On Ice

THI-3 owner of an automobile happened to stop his car where the front wheels were in some mud, one rear wheel on a bit of ice and the other on solid ground. The mud was not deep, but there was just enough to pre\ent the car starting from a standstill with one driver on a slick surface. Ha\"ing no tire-chains on hand he tried putting some sacks under the wheels in which the chains were kept. These were thrown out behind the car as fast as they could be put under the wheel. He finally pulled out In' h.i\ing some one push while the clutch was thrown in action. The trouble as mentioned could have easily overcome without the driver ig out of the car or doing anything especialh" different from the usual if in starting the car on low gear he had thrown in the brake enough to cause a iniU on both rear wheels. This would ia\e produced a tractive efi^ect suffici- ently strong to get the car through the mud. This idea can be used in many similar cases where it is difficult to start the car for lack of tractive power on one wheel.

��How to Make a Pendulum Swing Easily

THE uneven swinging of clock pendu- lums is generally due, not to incorrect balancing of the pendiihnn weight, but to a tin>- kink in the feather-spring from which the pendulum is suspeniled. If the lace of the clock is taken olT. the feather-sjiring may be twisted slightly in the right direc- tion with a pair of tweezers or small ]iincers. This will correct the unsightly wobble and help to maintain the perfect balance. — RAi.fii W. TiLLOTSON.

��Lifted Tread Sections in Making Automobile Tire Repairs

Ml ("11 h.is been said about the lifted tread method of making a sectional lire rei>air, but man>- N'ulcanizcrs are still following the wasteful practice of cutting olT the old rubber and throwing it awa\'. ("lit across the tread well to one side of the injury and iicel it back. .After llic section has been built in, cement the ireail .111(1 l,i\' il b.K k in place.

�� �