Is this a safety device or an instrument of torture? It seems pretty cruel to strap the kid into a chair so that when his toy falls on the ground, which it undoubtedly will, it rests just out of reach. Also, I’m sure that if he tries hard enough the boy could find a way to strangle himself.

Safety Belt Makes Chair Safe Seat for Child

IF it weren’t for the safety belt holding him to the chair, Jimmie, here, would probably take a spill in his efforts to reach that toy horse. Then some one would have to pick him up and put him back. It could go on for hours. But all this can be eliminated by use of a recently patented safety strap which fits over his shoulders and around his waist like a double Sam Browne belt. The ends are securely attached to the chair legs. The strap allows him plenty of movement, yet prevents him from toppling.

Woman Invents Dimple Machine

DIMPLES are now made to order! These aids to beauty can be produced as the result of a new invention
by Isabella Gilbert of Rochester, N. Y. The device consists of a face-fitting spring carrying two tiny knobs which press into the cheeks.

Head Measurements Help To Identify Criminals

A device long used by hat stores, to measure the size and shape of a customer’s head, now helps police of Norwalk, Conn., to identify criminals. According to sponsors of the new method,who use it in conjunction with fingerprinting, no two men have heads of exactly the same shape. Therefore, the perforated contour patterns produced by the device will afford a check on a suspect’s identity, and may prove particularly valuable if he has attempted to alter his fingerprints by chemical or surgical means. Since he cannot change the contour of his skull, this would remain as a telltale clew to his identity.

I suppose this is technically possible if the box contained a Bose-Einstein condensate, but I have my doubts.

Wanted: Men to Sell Sunbeams
PLANS to market sunbeams, containing quantities of healthful ultra-violet rays with vitamines, have been put forward by the University of Cincinnati. The rays are put up in small packages, and are filtered out with quartz or other transparent substances.

Report of Fake Revolver Frightens Away Auto Bandits
PROTECTION against the motor bandit is the aim of this new gadget that looks like a regular pistol and fits under the steering column of an automobile. Actually, though, the weapon is operated by compressed air, yet without a bullet. The report is loud enough to frighten away a holdup man, who believes he is being shot at. It is in popular use in England and may be carried by payment of a small fee for which the owner receives a postoffice license.

Sharp reintroduced this idea last year with the Dual View, an LCD that allows two viewers to see different images depending on their viewing angle. Though frankly I think the glasses make this one look much cooler. Even the dog has a pair.

Two-Headed TV Set Displays Two Different Shows at Once

Two people can enjoy different TV programs at the same time with a new set. The experimental Du Mont Duoscopic is actually two receivers in one cabinet, with two chassis, two sets of controls and two viewing tubes mounted at right angles (inset). A semitransparent mirror superimposes the two pictures, but each viewer sees only one show by watching through polarizing spectacles. Earphones handle the sound.

I find this rather hard to believe. It doesn’t seem practical, nor does it seem that 40 people would be neccessary to man 3 torpedo tubes.

Sunken Pillboxes Guarded Jap Coast
Japan’s anti-invasion line went out under water at Tokyo Bay. Pillboxes were built into the hulls of sunken ships and equipped with three torpedo tubes and a sound detector. Each pillbox held 40 to 50
men who were relieved every 10 days. Food was canned; oxygen, bottled.

This is brilliant marketing by the tobacco industry. Convince people that it is healthier to smoke their pipe tobacco through cigarette tobacco. There really should be some way to fit a cigar in here too.

Filter Pipe Is Smoked Through a Cigarette
More than eighty percent of the nicotine in tobacco smoke is said to be removed by a filter pipe recently announced. Smoke drawn from the pipe bowl to the mouthpiece passes through two halves of a cigarette, which act as filters to absorb most of the nicotine.

Seems like that would be a pretty slow rescue…

U.S. Navy Blimps Learn New Role for Sea Rescues
With the aid of new airship inventions, U. S. Navy blimps can now “anchor” ” 100 feet above the sea, and pick up ill sailors or victims of shipwreck. A circular disk called a “drogue,” dropped into the sea at the end of a cable, keeps the craft’s nose pointed steadily into the wind.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vest-Pocket Respirator Guards Workers’ Lungs

Small enough to be carried in a vest pocket, a one-ounce respirator protects industrial workers against dust with new convenience. The unbreakable, soft rubber device covers the nose alone, so that a wearer can talk, eat, smoke, and don glasses or goggles. While the user breathes naturally through his nose, an ingenious valve exhausts stale air and allows only filtered air to enter. Although the replaceable filter folds to wafer size, its effective area of nine square inches assures easy inhalation. Elastic ear loops hold the respirator.

This seems like a bad idea to me.

Old Tires Rolled Into Lump Make Odorless Fuel
HEREAFTER you need not worry about the disposition of all your old auto tires, for believe it or not you can make use of them as fuel. After you have gathered up a number of discarded tires proceed as follows: Take a sharp knife and cut a slash in the side wall just about an inch above the bead, which should then be removed. Then cut the tire crosswise and roll it up as if it were a carpet or rug and tie it securely around the center with a heavy piece of wire. Place this roll in an open fireplace and you will have an intense heat for about four hours, and there will not be the slightest smell of burning rubber. Two or three rolls at a time will easily keep a fair-sized room comfortably warm.— Edward Sievers.

Learn how to shoot while wearing a welding mask!

“Night Glasses” Train Soldiers To Fight in the Dark
For practice in fighting in the dark, cadets in a British officers’ training unit wear special “night glasses” during daytime maneuvers. Fitted with dark lenses, the glasses reproduce the visibility conditions that would be encountered at night. In this way, the young soldiers learn to recognize the landscape as it appears in darkness, and acquire skill in taking “pot shots” when they cannot see their rifle sights. In the photograph above, several cadets are using the glasses which turn day into night.