Device Measures Musical Talent
A YARDSTICK for the measurement of musical talent, an automatic tone-variator, is now being used at Northwestern University to determine students’ ability to determine exact tonal pitch.
The machine contains 14 tuning-forks, set within one-quarter tone of each other. Two notes are struck in quick succession, and the students are asked which note was higher. Those that can detect the higher note consistently are keenly encouraged to study music. They are considered to be musically apt and talented.
Students with less sensitivity to tone are advised to study instruments with broader tone distinctions such as pianos and other keyboard instruments.

This is pretty rediculous. I particularly like the part about living in 167 degree heat.

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FOUND — King Solomon’s Gold Mines

THE SECRET OF WAR-TORN ETHIOPIA
by JAMES NEVIN MILLER

COUNT BYRON DE PROROK, famous explorer, is again back in the United States after a series of adventures that would make an Arabian Nights fable seem weak and colorless in comparison. He was successful in locating the exact spot where the legendary King Solomon of Biblical fame once mined fabulous tons of gold.

More important, and perhaps the reason for the Italian hosts pushing their way into Ethiopia, these ancient mines are being worked today on a scale that staggers the imagination. From a volcanic mountain top, de Prorok beheld countless slaves, both men and women, toiling night and day to uncover the heavy golden nuggets.

But let this distinguished archaeologist tell his own almost unbelievable story:

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Farm Tractor Is Also War Tank
LIKE a broken down plow horse turning I into a snorting, spirited cavalry charger, a new farm tractor has been devised that can be converted into an armored tank equipped with gas and machine guns in a space of two hours.

The tractor is of the caterpillar type and is capable of surmounting anything from ditches to fallen trees. Its traction wheels are especially good for work in mud. Scrap metal was used to armor the original model.

Odd Ferry Runs on Sunken Track
PERHAPS the strangest ferry in the world is the one operating across the gulf between St. Malo and St. Serven, Brittany.
The ferry is built on a high superstructure to allow for the rising waters during full tide in the English Channel. The superstructure rests on a set of wheels running on a submerged track set low enough in the gulf so that it in no way interferes with ocean going traffic. Large winches on shore, attached to under-water cables, supply the motive power.
The platform contains chairs and a warming house for cold weather.

This just seems really sadistic to me. Why would you want this picture?

Trapped Rat Shoots Self and Photographs the Fatal Event
TRAPPED in an ingenious contrivance built by George W. Fenner, Syracuse photographer, a hungry rat shot himself and left a picture of the event in a camera trained upon the device.

A piece of bait was suspended from a wire at one end of the trap. Nibbling eagerly at the bait, the rat released a catch which dropped a spring-operated hammer, tripping the trigger of a revolver mounted at the opposite end of the trap.
The shot not only killed the rat but also cut a piece of string connected with still another spring. The latter set off a flashlight, supplying the illumination necessary to take the picture. In addition to the camera and lethal apparatus, a watch hung near the gun recorded the time of shooting.

Mechanics Masquerade as Men from Mars
NOT weird, helmeted men from Mars, but merely airplane mechanics carrying metal propeller-hub protectors are pictured in the curious photograph reproduced above. Because of their unwieldy shape, the hub spinners were easier to carry when held over the heads of the workmen as they walked out to install them on giant 1,200-horsepower transport-plane motors. The spinners help prevent the formation of ice on propeller hubs during winter and early-spring flying.

Women Stars Wrestle Under Water
ONE of the world’s strangest athletic events was held recently when Dolly Dalton, Canadian champion, engaged Dixie Taylor, southern women’s champion, in an underwater wrestling match at Silver Springs, Florida. The remarkable clearness of the water enabled spectators to follow every-move of the contestants. Good wind is essential for this strenuous sport.

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”.

Chicken Guests Fill Miami Hotel
ABANDONED by a real estate syndicate, a Miami hotel has been turned into one of the world’s largest and most palatial chicken coops by the ingenuity of Maurice R. Harrison, graduate engineer turned poul-tryman.
Securing a long-term lease on the property following its abandonment by the original owners, Harrison installed batteries of wire cages and promptly populated the hotel with about 60,000 chickens.
Each hen has an individual compartment, supplied with a private feed trough and a drinking fountain of freshly flowing water. Floors of the laying cages are slightly at an angle, permitting eggs to roll into a convenient trough to speed egg-gathering.

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Sportsman With Invisible Hands

THE man with no hands walked up to the attendant in the shooting gallery and asked for a gun.

“Do you really think you can shoot?” the attendant asked, noting the stubs where hands should be.

“I can try,” Joe Padderatz replied. Whereupon he gathered a .22 Winchester into his arms and amazed the onlookers with an expert display of sharpshooting. Before he left, the amazed attendant insisted upon writing a testimonial letter. “Nobody will ever believe it unless it’s in writing!” he said.

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This is possibly the most difficult method of typing I’ve ever seen.

Type Keyboard Worn On Fingers
A MINIATURE typewriter, novel because the keyboard characters are attached to a pair of gloves, was recently invented by a Tyrolian merchant.
The apparatus, which threatens to revo-lutionize the present office typewriter, consists of two parallel rails between which are mounted a small carriage, a typewriter ribbon and an automatic spacer. To operate the device, the typist merely presses the single characters on the fingers through an opening in the carriage to the ribbon, thus recording the message on paper.

So apparently since 1935 the government has had the ability to accurately predict the weather, yet they have kept it from us.

Crystal Balls Tracing Planet Paths on Globe Predict Weather
POSITIVE predictions of weather at any future time are declared possible by James C. Brown of La Porte, Texas, once an eleven year period of tests for his “Astronomer” weather machine reaches completion. Depending upon movements of the planets for its weather predictions, the machine consists of an ordinary schoolroom globe on which have been traced the paths of the sun and moon. Crystal balls placed in pairs at 45 degree latitude on each side of the equator burn paths around the globe which, in the course of 24 hours, will record any variation in movements of the sun, moon, or stars.
The long test period is necessary to set up charts. Future readings of the machine can then be compared with similar readings on the charts to obtain the weather forecast. Movements of certain bright stars can also be recorded on the globe.