Inventing Puzzles is Hobby of Professor

WHEN C. A. Jacobson, professor of chemistry at West Virginia University and the inventor of numerous pieces of laboratory equipment and a calculating machine, needs diversion, he turns to constructing puzzles. His interest in puzzles dates back forty years and he has been inventing them for more than twenty-five. His latest is a complicated block puzzle of unusual construction. One form of this puzzle is intended for use as a base for an inkwell. Professor Jacobson is shown here with a few puzzles from the huge collection he has acquired. One of Jacobson’s earliest puzzles was purchased by the famous Jack London.

THIS TOY AIRPLANE DOES EVERYTHING BUT FLY

At three years of age, Sam Swindle, of Athens, Ga., is “pilot” of a miniature airplane. It was built for him by his father, a master mechanic. Though its clipped wings make it impossible for it to leave the earth, the tiny machine actually travels along the ground under the power of a small gasoline engine and gives the boy all the thrills of real flying.

Thrilling Performances All in Day’s Work for Stunt Man

Billie Bomar, flying stunt man, gambles with death for a profession. His job is to provide thrills.

HUNDREDS of spectators held their breath while Billie Bomar, stunt man of the Howard Flying Circus, crawled all over a plane that swooped, climbed and dove above the heads of the crowd below.

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Ride Offers Thrills of Looping

ALL the thrills of a looping airplane are available in a new amusement device which recently made its appearance in Los Angeles.

A car resembling the cockpit of a plane is supported on a hollow steel tube which pivots on a large ball bearing mechanism at the top of its steel frame.

The device is powered by a small electric motor which swings the car back and forth, gradually increasing the arc until enough momentum is developed to carry it over the top.

Making the “Invisible Man” Invisible

AN invisible man running amuck, terrorizing, killing! Solid flesh and bone pushing men over, strangling opponents, dealing crushing blows with fist or club, yet as transparent as air —such is ‘The Invisible Man” of the films—such is the fantastic tale originally conceived by the famous novelist, H. G. Wells!

Great secrecy surrounds the methods used by movie men in making this film, for all new photographic “wrinkles” are guarded by the studios as long as possible. For Modern Mechanix and Inventions readers, however, this simplified explanation of the filming methods is unofficially revealed.

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I can’t imagine how this would help teach the piano. I think Dr. Johnen just got his kicks by strapping women into weird equipment.

This Instrument Will Register Body Reactions of Student Piano Player

A NEW device has been patented by Dr. Kurt Johnen, Berlin piano pedagogue, which records the motions and bodily reactions of a piano player to determine if the selection is being properly interpreted. A lady is pictured being examined by the device. A pneumatic belt records the change of the circumference of the chest, pneumatic cuffs about the upper arms control the changes of muscle tension, through a hose is recorded the rhythms of respiration and another hose transfers the strength of touch. Dr. Johnen expects this device will aid him in instructing his pupils in interpretation.

This ad pretty much sums up why there are no more American television manufacturers. They are actually advertising the fact that they don’t use circuit boards and that all of their electronics are hand assembled!

BUILT BETTER… to last longer!

Every Zenith portable TV is Handcrafted —built better to last longer. There are no printed circuits. No production shortcuts. Every connection is carefully handwired. This kind of dedication to quality has made Zenith America’s largest selling TV. It is one of the important reasons why Zenith TV gives you finer performance. Fewer service problems. Greater operating dependability. And a sharper, clearer picture, year after year. Don’t settle for less than Zenith—the Handcrafted TV.

ZENITH
The quality goes in before the name goes on

HIDDEN LIGHTS ILLUMINE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Musical instruments glowing in the dark with diffused light have been introduced to provide a novelty for theatergoers. As the musicians play, the moving light on their instruments offers a striking spectacle. This is enhanced by changing colors in the illumination, which is controlled from apparatus offstage. The photograph above shows how the scheme is applied to a violin, which is studded with concealed electric lights. The bow is also illuminated; a long tubular lamp serves as the frame. Trailing wires lead from the performers’ instruments to the switchboards where lights are managed.ac

Wouldn’t the cabinet effect the sound more than his clothes would?

SITS IN A CABINET FOR SOUNDPROOF TESTS

Because his clothing might deaden the sounds of voices just a little, an engineer at the United States Bureau of Standards’ new sound laboratory sits in a box.

The laboratory is a miniature theater, where the acoustics of “talking movie” installations may be tested. The audience is made up of technicians of the Bureau. They hope to discover means of reducing the “echo effects” which many theater managers have had to combat since the advent of the talkies. It has already been found that not only the construction and the material of a theater’s walls, but even the upholstery of the seats and the clothing of the audience have an influence on the reception of sound.

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GIANT SAXOPHONE IS SO LARGE PLAYER STANDS ON LADDER

Weighing 500 pounds and modeled accurately after smaller instruments, a huge saxophone was displayed not long ago in California. Securely bracketed to the outside of the manufacturer’s shop, the giant instrument formed an impressive advertising display, and to emphasize its tremendous proportions, a young woman who attempted to play it was compelled to mount a ladder to reach the mouthpiece.

SINGER CAN HEAR VOICE AS AUDIENCE HEARS IT

So that would-be singers may hear themselves as others hear them, a Los Angeles, Calif., voice teacher and former grand opera singer has invented and patented a voice reflector. Fitted around the pupil’s neck like a collar, as shown above, its convolutions carry a part of the singer’s tones back to her own ears. According to the inventor, his device will enable singers or public speakers to detect and correct faults in tone, volume, and diction during a few hours’ practice, since they may hear in this way exactly how their voices in singing or speaking would sound to an audience.

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GUNS from All NATIONS Stock MOVIE Arsenals

THE machine guns of the beleaguered garrison, making a last stand, are rattling and spitting fire at an enemy whose rifles and revolvers crack viciously in reply. Casualties are strewn everywhere and the acrid smoke of battle hovers over the scene. It is a critical situation, indeed—or appears so.

Then the director shouts “cut,” and the “dead” and “wounded” arise and brush themselves off. For it is only a scene from a current talkie, and no one is really “wounded in action.”

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