Map on Rain Cape Is Walking Atlas
A colorful map of the United States, complete with rivers, mountains, boundary lines, and other geographical features, adorns a novel rain cape recently introduced. Made in either red or blue, the cape is fitted with a hood, and has extra large armholes to permit it to be worn over a regular coat.

RUSSIAN FIRE CHIEF IS STRIKING FIGURE

What a Russian Soviet fire chief looks like when he goes into action is revealed in this unusual photograph. It was snapped in a railroad yard by a photographer who arrived on the scene just as the chief was signaling his men to bring up their apparatus.

Ready for any emergency is this striking figure, as his costume indicates. An auto horn at his side and signal flgs aid him to give orders to the brigade he commands. This is necessary because vocal instructions are out of the question for him. A gas mask covers his entire face to shield him from smoke and noxious fumes. His helmet carries a spike to ward off or break up falling fragments of masonry and glass that would cause injury if they landed solidly.

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Garden City, L. I. Bank Does It With Mirrors

THE submarine periscope has gone into the banking business. It’s all done with mirrors, as a look into the Garden City Bank and Trust Company of Garden City, L. I., would show you.

To save valuable space on the ground floor, the bank set up its note department on the second floor. Patrons, however, still do their banking on the main floor, thanks to a periscope channel built into the wall.

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World’s Non-Stop Tractor Record Made by Californians

A STANDARD by which modern tractor farming may be gauged was set up by the Battaglia brothers and their caterpillar tractor near San Jose, California, when Dean C. L. Cory of the College of Mechanics, University of California, unsealed the gas tanks and stopped the official non-stop record of exactly ten days and nights.

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INSECTS THWARTED BY SCREENED CHAIR
Freedom from insect pests is guaranteed by a novelty among rocking-chairs. A frame surrounds the user and incloses him on all sides with screening. Flies and mosquitoes buzz harmlessly on the outside, while he rocks in comfort. The frame is collapsible for easy storage.

NEW ELEVATOR WORKS WITHOUT CABLES
Elevators travel under their own, self-contained power in a system upon which a New York inventor has just received a patent. Each car is suspended from a hollow drum containing a driving motor. Under control of the operator, the drum revolves and climbs a vertical series of rollers by means of a worm on its exterior, as shown in the diagrams.

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Wire Network Fools Seagulls

RESERVOIRS containing the water supply of a California city were becoming favorite nesting-places of sea-gulls flying in from the nearby Pacific until engineers hit upon an ingenious method of sheltering the pools. Wire cables were stretched across the reservoirs, dividing them into checkerboards marked off into 50-foot squares. The wire network proved entirely successful in protecting the pools from sea-gulls, the birds steering clear of water criss-crossed by the shiny wire.

Until the simple network method was devised attempts were made to drive the gulls away by shooting. An automatic exploder was installed, but it was expensive to maintain and not so efficient as the wire cables.

“Air Cleaners.” Is that what the kids are calling them nowadays?

ELECTRIC UNIT CLEANS AIR OF HARMFUL PARTICLES
Experimental models of an electrical unit to remove dust, soot, pollen and other solid and liquid particles from the air are being tested by Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing company. Data are being gathered by physicians who are using similar units in treatment of patients afflicted with various types of asthma or pollen fevers. The unit is arranged to draw particle-filled air past two small wires, suspended horizontally. Connected to a power pack, which raises their voltage, these wires “charge” all air particles in their vicinity. This is called “ionizing” the air. Next, the ionized particles are drawn through a series of plates which also are charged. The plates have opposite polarity, with the result that the air particles move and cling to the plate, just as a needle jumps over to a magnet. Thus, air is made to clean itself. In addition, a film of oil covers each plate to make certain the particles stick to the plates. The air, freed of particles, then is sent into the room by a fan. The unit requires no more current than an ordinary electric lamp.

Man Who Conceived NRA Invents Locking Bottle Top

A BOTTLE stopper which can be locked into the neck of the container is the newest creation of Frank E. Vanderhoof, Greenwich, Connecticut, inventor and father of the NRA. The “locking cork” was designed especially for use on bottles containing poisonous liquids so that contents could not be accidentally swallowed. The locking mechanism of the stopper consists of a pair of steel ball bearings which lock against the inside of the bottle when the key is turned. Once locked it is impossible for anyone to remove the cork without breaking the bottle. In size the locking closure is no larger than the ordinary stopper.

Stilt Walker Comes Down to Earth
WHEN Donald Pletsch, a veteran stilt-walker, grew tired of being a mere long-legged pedestrian he decided to come down closer to earth, so he built himself a pair of one-wheeled skates from the remains of a coaster wagon. Walking on them appears to be a simple feat, but try it yourself and you’ll find out differently.

That thing looks a little unstable to me…

Mechanical “Beanstalk”
Work at a height of 22 feet is easily-reached by a mobile hydraulic platform. The user operates’ a manual hydraulic pump that boosts the tubular-steel platform to its maximum altitude in two minutes. It is lowered by pulling a pressure release. Four screw jacks lift the equipment off its rubber-tired casters and hold it in position during use. The complete unit can be folded to permit passage through a doorway six feet six inches high and less than 2-1/2 feet wide.

Hey! Look at the Blonde!
Motorists approaching a cafe near Atascadero, Calif., often find their attention caught by what, at first glance, seems to be a comely waitress. Their second glance, of course, takes in the cafe sign—as the manager had planned. The attractive blonde waitress is a costumed window display dummy.