CYCLISTS’ MOLDED MASKS

For races on cinder tracks, daredevil New York motorcyclists wear grotesque masks to protect their faces against flying particles from the wheels of each other’s machines. The racers dip the masks in water to soften them and then press them against their faces. When dry, the masks take on the contours of the cyclists’ features. Goggles are worn over the eyeholes. In addition, the racers wear football helmets to guard their heads.

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How the Experts Build a Snow Man

Their big, fancy snow sculptures take a lot of work, but you can copy them on a smaller scale in your yard.

By Carol Ennis

BUILDING a snow giant like this one is a real construction job that crews of students tackle every winter at Dartmouth College for the school’s Winter Carnival. They begin by erecting a framework around which the statue is molded. A separate scaffold gives working platforms at several levels. Snow mixed with water forms slush for shaping the statue. The job takes the crew about three weeks of spare-time work.

For your yard this winter, you can build a small version of this Alpinist and his horn. If the scale is modest, the statue won’t be as much work.

Cabin Scooter Built for Two
Europe continues to come up with new and fresh designs for the small basic car. A fully enclosed three-wheel scooter with a top speed of about 60 miles per hour seats two persons side by side behind a single front door. There’s ample room for children or luggage in the rear. A canvas roof is rolled back in good weather. The car is expected to sell for less than $1000. It has a four-stroke, 175-cycle engine.

BOW-AND-ARROW GOLF IS LATEST DIVERSION

Playing golf with bows and arrows, instead of the usual clubs and balls, is the latest diversion in the sporting world. Golfers of no mean ability have been defeated by as many as 20 strokes in contests with archers who shoot arrows from the tees to the cups. With the bow and arrow, “drives” of 250 and 300 yards are said to be a common occurrence, while the accuracy of approach to the greens would make any golfer envious. One thing is certain, any archer making the rounds of a course is never troubled by the “ball” overrunning the putting green. Neither do wet greens and fairways, nor the scientifically placed bunkers and traps, prove a hindrance to his game, or to the serenity of his temper.

Huge Barrel Plane for Ocean Flights

PIERCED by a battery of tunnels a flying wing airplane is proposed by an engineer at the famous Caproni airplane works in Italy. Streamlined motors and four-bladed propellers will drive air blasts through the tunnels, each of which forms a Venturi tube, expanding toward the rear. Thus, according to the inventor, the air will give a forward push something in the manner of rocket propulsion. Aided by the Italian government, the designer recently completed a single-engined experimental craft incorporating his ideas. This odd flying barrel was put through successful tests near Rome. (P.S.M., Jan. ‘33, p. 18.) Details of the huge machine he proposes to build for transatlantic travel are shown in the pictures above. Read the rest of this entry »

EXPERIMENTAL Arc Furnace MELTS ANYTHING

How to wind a simple coil reactance that controls the current, protects the fuses, and cuts down greatly the cost of the electric power

By Alfred P. Lane

HEAT so terrific that no known substance is able to withstand it for long can be developed in your home laboratory with nothing more than a pair of electric light carbons, a small crucible, and some means of controlling the flow of the electric current from the house mains through the arc.

Most electrical experimenters attempt to use an old toaster or electric grill in series with the arc. This works all right, but the current flow is limited to three or four amperes and is greatest when the carbons are in contact and the arc is producing the least amount of heat. Adding another toaster or grill in parallel with the first one doubles the current through the arc, doubles the cost of operation, and still is open to the objection that the current flow is greatest when the arc is least effective.
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Steel Shield for Policemen is Bullet-Proof

Bullets crashed and ricocheted recently in an exciting test of a new shield for policemen at Chicago, Ill. Mounted on casters, the four-foot shield of specially hardened metal affords protection for one police officer in storming barricades or entering besieged houses in the face of gangster fire. As he pushes the shield forward on its casters, the policeman can look ahead through a slot in the metal and tire through a small loophole beneath it. The shield guards against machine guns.

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What’s on the mind of the driver pushing his racing car toward the four-mile-a-minute mark on the Bonneville Salt Flats?

“One Out of Three Smashes Up”

Writes Mal Hooper

AS I HEADED for the starting line on the Salt Flats of Utah, I remembered two cars that had gone there earlier and how they had ended up—smashed to bits on the smooth, hard salt.

I remembered the judges in the timing stand and the spectators lining the course, tense as an oncoming streamliner began to fishtail. The car rolled over and flipped end for end, hammering itself into a mass of junk. It crashed on its back and slid past the last beam of the timing apparatus, automatically clocking its speed at more than 225 miles per hour. The car was completely ruined. Yet driver Sonny Rogers crawled out unhurt, his life saved by the roll bar and helmet.

My second memory was of Fred Carrillo. He wasn’t quite so lucky when his 1300-pound streamliner began to drift away from the black line at top speed. Carrillo corrected with his wheel and the car bounced and jumped across the salt for 2000 feet, scattering parts and pieces in all directions. It seemed impossible that Carrillo was still alive yet he emerged with no greater injury than a broken leg.
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Psychic Phenomena and The War

On the Threshold of Danger — Strange Things Happen!

Have you ever sensed the imminent danger of a loved one-even though he is across sea or continent? Have you been suddenly awakened by the call of your name—then realize that the one who spoke it was thousands of miles distant? If you ever had these experiences — as millions now have — learn the truth about them.
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BIG MONSTERS IN PARADE

Monster animals, inflated with helium gas, are being turned out by an Akron, O., factory for department stores to use in advertising their wares. A few weeks ago some of these creatures paraded in Boston, as shown at left. Released, they soar away. Clarence Chamberlin, noted aviator, recently won a store’s prize by returning a fragment of such a balloon snared in flight.

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RAISING RABBITS for PROFIT

RAISING rabbits for the market is a back-yard industry that has grown to million dollar proportions in the last few years. It is estimated that rabbit owners are receiving five million dollars annually from meat and fur, with the demand still going up.

In the past raising rabbits was simply a hobby, but now many people are devoting all their time to the small animals. Small initial capital, the small amount of space required, and the rapid development of rabbits to market size are factors that have stimulated the industry.

To get into the business you should first investigate marketing arrangements in your area. In some places slaughter houses that specialize in rabbits call for the live animals when they are ready. In other localities you arrange with a butcher to handle the output of your hutches. Domestic rabbit flesh is a delicious, tender meat comparable to breast of chicken.
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CRUCIFIX IN THROAT TEN DAYS REMOVED WITHOUT KNIFE

After lying for ten days, imbedded in the throat of a patient in a Boston hospital, a crucifix, two inches long, was extracted without surgery. X-rays located the obstruction and, although the victim was at the point of strangulation, no knife was used, despite the fact that the prongs had become lodged in the sides of the windpipe.

Fastened in an upright position, the cross arms are believed to have prevented the piece from penetrating further.