Popular Science Monthly
��685
��A Coffee Percolator That Never Runs Dry
A PARTICULARLY successful con- trivance for attracting attention to his store window was recenth" dexised by a Chicago merchant.
A coffee percolator was suspended in the middle of the window on a wire, tilted at a considerable angle. From its spout issued a dark brown stream of palatable- looking coffee, which flowed into a cup conveniently placed beneath. The
curious part about the arrangement was that the supply of coffee seemed in- exhaustible. The percolator poured into the cup hour after hour, day after day without seeming to diminish the supply. How so much coffee could be con- tained in the small pot was a mystery. The vessel hung on the wire entirely free from contact with other objects — seemingly an inexhaustible fount. Another strange thing was that no matter how much coffee was poured into the cup below, the liquid never over- flowed, nor rose above a certain height.
The secret was this. Up the center of the down-pouring' stream from the percolator spout ran a small copper tube, its upper end terminating well within the spout. The coffee was conducted from a concealed tank, up through the tube into the percolator and out again, this time on the outside of the conducting tube — the flow being sufficient to completely cover the pipe. The natural deep brown of the coffee harmonized with the coppery hue of the tube. The cup never ran over for the simple reason that a drain pipe at the bottom took care of the constant inflow. The cup into which the per- colator poured stood upon a small tabouret whose legs were of suffi- cient width to conceal the two tubes — the sup- ply pipe and the drain. An ordinary steel drill was used to bore the holes in the bottom of the cup and saucer.
����The coffee comes from a supply tank in a continuous stream, and flows out of the bottom of the cup through a drain-pipe
��The mouth - breathing ap- paratus through which fresh air is suppUed to a diver
Pumping Air to a Diver Through a Bicycle Pump
A SIMPLE plan which boatmen along the Seine use to supply air to divers, in- volves the use of a bicycle pump, the hose of which is connected with a breathing device fastened over the diver's mouth. The person on shore pumps the air at a given rate and the diver is enabled to stay under water as long as is necessary to complete his work, without returning to the surface on account of a diminishing air- supply.
The device is composed of an elastic band which fastens around the head, hold- ing the tube in place and making a water- tight covering over the mouth. The tube ter- minates in a mouth- piece which is held be- tween the teeth. This mouthpiece is a minia- ture air reservoir, through which the in- coming fresh air is passed to the air pas- sages at the back of the throat, and the used air is expelled through an exit pipe. A pair of pinchers are clasped over the nostrils to pre- vent nose breathing.
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