William Gray’s Pay Telephone

By Alfred Lief

THE young wife of a machinist in Hartford, Conn., fell critically ill. The year was 1888. There were few telephones in town and William Gray had to call a doctor. He ran to a nearby factory and asked permission to use their phone. The manager said no; it was not for public use. But his pleading won consent, the doctor arrived in time and Mrs. Gray survived.

Plastic Football Helmets. Only half as heavy as the familiar leather-and-fiber helmets, these headgear are weather resistant and have as much or more protective strength. Made by MacGregor-Gold-smith, of Cincinnati, they are molded in one unit from phenolic laminated material.

Outboard Starter Rewinds Itself

A NEW starter for outboard motors makes obsolete the rope starter heretofore used. A steel tape, which automatically winds itself into the container in readiness for the next pull as soon as it is released is the feature of this device.

Boating enthusiasts who have had difficulty in finding their starting ropes—who have lost their ropes upon the sudden kick-back of a motor—whose wives have protested when the knot of a suddenly released rope snapped back over their heads—who resented picking up grimy, oil-soaked ropes—who have wasted time winding the rope around the starting plate—all have hailed this development as the greatest boon to outboard motoring since the development of the tilting propeller years ago.

Waterproof Sand Exhibited

W/ATERPROOF sand constituted one of the many marvels of modern chemistry exhibited at a Chemical Industries Exposition recently staged in New York, N. Y. In a convincing test demonstration, water was passed through a series of curves in the chemically treated sand without becoming even partially absorbed.