Inventor Makes Propeller-Driven Tricycle

A THREE-WHEELED vehicle constructed of airplane parts and powered by a two-cylinder motor and small propeller has been designed by John Dacy, a young inventor of Zion City, Ill.

The rear part of the machine consists of an airplane landing gear on which is mounted the motor and propeller. In front of this is the pilot’s seat, suspended from a frame of steel tubing. The lone front wheel is connected by chain and wire to the steering apparatus.

The propeller develops tremendous pushing power and gives the machine such high speed that its owner has no fear of traffic officers.

Police Inaugurate Two-Way Radio

THE first two-way police radio equipment in the United States is now in operation at Piedmont, a fashionable suburb of Oakland, California. Permission for this efficient new form of communication between police officers in the field and headquarters has been granted by the federal radio commission. Read the rest of this entry »

Walking on Wheels is the Latest European Sport

THE newest aid to the pedestrian is the “paticycle,” invented by a Frenchman as an easy and inexpensive means of getting from here to there. The device consists of wheels attached to the walker’s feet and legs by means of braces. It is operated by swinging the legs forward as if walking on the ground, but the feet never touch the road. A staff is carried in each hand to steady the walker and help him steer a straight course.

A paticycle race was recently run from Versailles to Paris. Charles Samuel, the winner, is shown crossing the finishing line.

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Most Scientific Fiction Can’t Come True

by WILLIAM J. HARRIS

You’ve probably read scores of so-called scientific fiction stories, but the chances are you don’t know why most of these tales can’t possibly come true. Mr. Harris sets forth here the scientific objections to fantastic projects such as transporting a human being by radio and rocketing to Mars.
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Astronomers Discover New Planet Out Beyond Neptune

The recently discovered planet, already named Pluto, is judged to be the same size as the earth.

The late Percival Lowell, shown above, predicted the planet’s discovery 25 years ago. The picture of the planet was obtained with a 24-inch reflector and is from a 30-times enlargement of the plate. It was taken by Prof. George Van Biesbroeck of Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay, Wisc. The bright glow on the plate is the near-by star, Delta Geminorum.

Dilemma for Vegetarians

THERE is no real difference between animals and plants, according to Professor Gottlieb Haberlandt, of Berlin. The conventional tests that only animals breathe and that only plants live on mineral food may apply to the majority of plants and animals, but there are many exceptions.

There are numerous plants which do not draw their nourishment from the soil, but must live like animals on vegetable or animal matter. On the other hand, there are certain lowly animals which apparently can draw nutriment from inorganic salts and solutions as is done by some plant roots.

Garage ‘Without WALLS for Car Parking

A TYPE of garage built on entirely new lines has been designed and patented by Samuel Eliot, a real estate operator and building manager of Boston, Mass. Known as a “cage garage,” it is an open-air parking space stepped up three or four stories, with no side-walls or windows, no heat, no elevators or electric lighting. Read the rest of this entry »

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HOW an Artists’ Model Keeps Her Beauty

The Self-Told Story of a Famous Representative of the Profession Whose Life Is in Many Ways a Model for Other Women

By Grace Bowen

THE life of an artists’ model! I am going to tell you the truth about it.

I suppose that most people get their ideas of artists’ models from highly imaginative moving-picture stories in which the artists are likely to be more or less fantastic people living a gay social life, and the models are man-hunting vamps who divide their time between night-life in the cabarets and intimate “teas” in luxurious studios.
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Associates… and your growth as an engineer

Do your associates stimulate your thinking? Are your managers receptive to your original ideas? At IBM, an engineer can answer these basic questions with an unqualified “yes.”

In IBM’s modern labs, engineers sense the professional excitement that stems from a continual interchange of original ideas. Their contributions—even on projects not specifically their own—receive sympathetic hearing from men whose management positions were attained by outstanding engineering achievement.
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“Mystery Plane” flaps Self to Pieces in Trial Flight

Built with flapping wings and bird-like body, this “American Eagle” plane collapsed before its inventor could get the novel machine off the ground!

THE mystery attached to the so-called “mystery airplane” built by James A. Crane of Ellsworth, Maine, seems to be— “Why doesn’t it fly?” Read the rest of this entry »

Want to pack your product into less space?

ELGIN can miniaturize your assemblies

When conserving space is vital (as it is in timing and control devices, small actuators and other electro-mechanical devices), call on Elgin’s broad experience and skills for help. Read the rest of this entry »

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Novel Stunts of Advertisers

IN these days of competition among advertisers it is the businessman using novel methods of attracting the attention of the buying public who is convinced that “it pays to advertise.”

ONCE a manufacturer has made the name of his product a household word, his success is assured. A billion dollars will be spent this year on direct mail advertising alone.