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World’s Longest Bridges Span San Francisco Bay

by CHARLES W. GEIGER

A comprehensive article on the Golden Gate and San Francisco Oakland Bay bridges, telling of man’s struggle with nature to complete, at a tremendous cost, two of the most daring construction feats ever undertaken by American engineers.

HIGH over the surging tides of San Francisco’s Golden Gate, the two towers of the world’s largest single suspension bridge stand in defiant majesty as symbols of man’s victory over natural forces. And farther back, the eight mile skeleton of towers and piers stretch across the San Francisco—-Oakland bay, ready for the spans which will complete this, the world’s most costly bridge project.

These bridges, built at a total cost of $112,000,000, are being erected to aid traffic in and around San Francisco. The bridge to Oakland cuts the 30 mile trek around the circuitous shoreline of the bay to a straight 8-1/4 mile trip across the bridge; the Golden Gate project eliminates a detour of approximately 80 miles for direct coastal traffic between Canada and Mexico.

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Texan Builds Novel Electric Gun

GIANT projectiles pulled at terrific velocities through powderless cannon by magnetism, leaving the barrel with scarcely more noise than that made by a .22 rifle, may set new problems for range finders.
The electric gun invented and patented by Virgil Rigsby of San Augustine, Texas, is similar to an electric motor with the field poles unrolled. Powerful magnet coils mounted end to end along the barrel of the gun are supplied with electricity by an electrical timing switch in such fashion that the magnetic pulling force is always ahead of the projectile.

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H. G. Wells Photographs the FUTURE in His Motion Picture “THINGS to COME”

SUBTERRANEAN cities flourishing under the scientific miracle of weather manufactured by machines—

Light-ray traps which recapture the very incidents of long vanished centuries so that you may watch Columbus discover America if you wish—

Flowers and vegetables grown without soil or sunlight—

Personal radio telephones carried on the clothing in a space no larger than a coat button—

An electric Space Gun powerful enough to rocket human beings around the Moon—

Boring machines which carry joy-riding passengers to Aladdin’s caves ten miles beneath the earth—

These are some of the amazing achievements predicted for the world of tomorrow by H. G. Wells, world-famous British novelist who is hailed as the greatest prophetic genius of our day. With other miracles of the year 2054, they will soon be seen in Mr. Wells’ startling motion picture, prophetically entitled “Things to Come.”

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“Radio Man” WALKS, TALKS,AND YODELS

TOWERING seven feet high, a strange “radio man” has just been completed after ten years of arduous work by August Huber, a Swiss engineer. Beneath its jointed steel body, the gigantic mechanical man is a maze of automatic switches, relays, and other controls. Microphones within the automaton’s’ ears pick up spoken commands and carry them to an intricate system of twenty electric motors that make the fantastic creature walk, talk, sing, or yodel at the will of its master. Power for these various activities is supplied by batteries concealed in the ponderous legs. When this modern monster talks through the loudspeaker installed in its chest, its lips move in time with its speech. An ultra-short-wave receiver installed in its torso enables the “radio man” to follow orders transmitted to it by radio from remote points.

I’ve found out what happened to Elvis. He went back in time and became the King of Kommagene which, in english, means “Rock and Roll”.

I love this: “…products of his versatile mind and stubby fingers.”

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Boy Genius Builds Complete Electrical Laboratory

by ORMAL I. SPRUNGMAN

From odds and ends of discarded equipment 13-year-old Franklin Lee has built a remarkably complete scientific laboratory. A few of his many successful electrical projects are described in this article.

NIMBLE fingers, an inventive mind, and. the urge to experiment have brought to 13-year-old Franklin Lee, Granite Falls, Minn., electronic wizard, a scientific research laboratory that would do credit to a college student of science.

In the well-lighted interior of his garage workshop powerful homemade electric motors turn lathes and grindstones. Standing by in one corner, ready for instant use, is an electromagnet capable of lifting a hundred pounds. Transformers of different sizes and voltages hum merrily in their baths of cooling oil, while in one corner metal glows white-hot in a homemade electric arc furnace. From discarded electrical equipment, auto parts, and odds and ends of cast-away materials Franklin built them all.

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This is the coolest boat model I’ve ever seen. You can ride around in it!

German Boys Build Scale Model Liners for Sea Cruises
EXPERT marine constructionists, between the ages of 9 and 16 are being developed in one of the most novel trade schools of the world at Potsdam, Germany. Under the tutelage of experienced marine engineers, the youths receive a thorough technical training in building exact replicas of real steamships on a scale of one to twenty.
Grades are given according to the aptitude and intelligence shown in building the model vessels. The plans from which the youth work are the same plans, scaled down, of such ships
as the Normandie and the Queen Mary. At the end of the school year, advanced students build models that can actually go to sea.

Automat Swaps Candy for Bottles
TO INSURE the return of empty milk bottles and eliminate the cost of replacements, an automat has been devised which dispenses candy and gum in exchange for “empties.” Shaped and painted like a huge milk bottle, the container has a capacity of 60 bottles. The empty bottle is placed on a red hook in an opening near the top and a handle is pushed to the right to deposit the bottle. Gum or candy is discharged into the customer’s hands.

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A PORTFOLIO OF Cars you’d like to own

HERE’S A CAR THAT CLIMBS WALL

SOMETHING special for the off-the-road motorist: the Hickey Trail Blazer, built by Trail Blazer, 9424 Gallatin Road, Downey, Calif. Designers Victor Hickey, Sam Weaver and Jack Henry meant it for climbing mountains and slogging through sand but it can do its share of roadwork and takes stop-and-go traffic good-naturedly.

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Motor Unicycle Proves Fast, Safe
A SPECTACULAR demonstration of unicycle operation was given in Los Angeles recently when Walter Nilsson, California inventor, drove his specially constructed machine 18 miles per hour in second gear without the aid of a pneumatic tire.
His unicycle consists of a single outer wheel driven by an inner wheel held in a stationary frame and powered by a one-cylinder motor. The engine is mounted motorcycle fashion between the rider’s legs. Steering is accomplished by means of a secret device which tilts the outer wheel while permitting the rider to remain upright.
With the arrival of a pneumatic tire, Nilsson expects to be able to attain 100 miles per hour.

Exhaust Flame-Thrower is a new gadget for hot-rodders. Spark plugs set in the exhaust pipes ignite unburned gas in the vents which shoot out flames to a distance of 20 ft. on fast starts. It’s noiseless and police want an excuse to prohibit it.

Gallery of new toys for the 1946 Christmas season, the first one toy makers could gear up for after WWII. Check out the “reaction jet engine” on page 3 and the proto-legos on the last page.

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The Return of The Toys

This year’s mechanical marvels are sturdier, more realistic —and more expensive.

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