.At your fingertips…
the facts of business lifeEVERYBODY is better off these days because the ever-mounting flood of business paper work is meeting its master in the incredible speed and accuracy of versatile office machines.
Thej go far bevond the limits of pen and pencil work to turn out invoked analytical jobs on an up-to-the-minute basis—digging out the facts of business life.
.Perambulating Press Prints On Paving
THERE have been sandwich men, sound trucks, and sky-writers to carry advertising messages before, but it was left for a Spanish inventor to devise the perambulating printing press for making bill boards of the pavements.
The entire press is no larger than a baby buggy, and is no more difficult to push. Paint which dries upon contact with the pavement is used instead of printer’s ink, and the advertising message may be walked upon immediately after application without tracking. The machine made its first appearance in Barcelona, Spain.
.Shocked Worms Make Fishing Easier
FIRM in his conviction that fishing should afford nothing more nor less than a complete rest, B. L. Nutshing, of San Francisco, has devised an electric angle worm accelerator to avoid digging worms. A metal rod is attached to electric wires and thrust into the ground. Immediately the worms come to the surface. He only has to pick them up.
.Your Phone Dial Computes Your Bill
This new electrical brain now makes long-distance dialing possible.
PS photos by Hubert Luckett
ONE of the biggest obstacles to making long-distance telephone calls without speaking to an operator has been overcome: a machine has been built to see that you are properly charged for such calls. It’s a gigantic electrical contrivance that remembers what numbers you have called and how long you talked.
Your dial will operate it. The first such machine, called an AMA (for Automatic Message Accounting), is in use now at Philadelphia. Since it takes a long time to build and install such machines and the other equipment, it may be a long time before your phone is connected to such a device.
The AMA now at work can keep track of 100 calls at once, and even disregards local calls from phones with flat-rate service.
The system, developed at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York, actually consists of two machines—one in the Philadelphia suburb of Media, one downtown.
When somebody in Media dials a message-rate or toll call, AMA assigns that call a code number and then punches holes in a paper tape for the code, the calling number, and the number called. When the conversation starts and when it ends, AMA records the month, day, and exact time.
The second machine, pictured here and on the next page, later reads the tape, sorting out the record of each call from hundreds of others, and types out a report.
Note the underlying truth of this ad: surrounded by fawning girls, the geeky kid is focused on figuring out how the hookah works and how he can mod it.
.“…. THAT’S EASY! WHAT HE’S GOT THAT YOU HAVEN’T GOT IS AN ECHOPHONE EC-1″
Echophone Model EC-1
(Illustrated) a compact communications receiver with every necessary feature for good reception. Covers from 550 ka to 30 mc. on three bands. Electrical bandspread on all bands. Six tubes. Self-contained speaker. 115-125 volts AC or DC.
Echophone Radio Co., 640 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 11, Illinois
.RACING DEER NEWEST SPORT
FLEETFOOTED deer are being trained for the hurdles and obstacles of the steeplechase course in California’s newest racing sport. They have been taught to circle a race track and leap hurdles with greater ease and grace than the best horses.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Timm, of Kelsey, Calif., started the new sport. More than a year ago they caught five young deer in Oregon. When the animals were three months old, the first step in training began. Each deer was taught to wear a collar with a leash.The leash was attached to a wire fastened between two trees to permit the deer to run back and forth. Because of the danger of the animal injuring itself in its efforts to get free, the trainer was with it night and day.
When the deer became accustomed to the collar and leash, he was taught to lead. For two days the animal was led about without stopping. Worn out, the animal finally gave in and followed the trainer willingly.
The hurdles were next, the deer following the trainer over each hurdle. Because a deer will not run fast unless pursued, a horse and rider urged him to racing speed.
After many races the deer got the idea of racing and vied for the lead. The horse, however, always follows them.
.Talking Paper Presents the News
TALKING newspapers are here. No longer is it necessary to listen to the radio for verbal reports of the day’s news, following the invention of speaking paper by Fernando Crudo, of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ordinary ink is used to print the talking paper, but instead of words, sound symbols are reproduced. When placed in a special machine, which is part of the invention, the sound symbols are reproduced with the clarity of a phonograph.
.New Power For Mechanical Toys Opens Large Field For Alert Inventive Minds
COUNTLESS inventors have rolled up tremendous fortunes by the development of new and simple toys as the several hundred manufacturers in this industry are ever in need of fresh attractions. Indeed, at the present time, there is an urgent cry for new material, and consequently we shall devote this month’s department to an outline of some of the more pressing problems. Toys can be developed by any man without an elaborate work shop since most of them are made of bits of wood and cardboard. Some of the biggest money makers on record have been perfected with little more than a jack knife.
.Speedboat Balloon Spearing Is the Latest Water Sport
Spearing rubber balloons from a racing speedboat is a new water sport which has proved as popular with spectators as with the participants.
Two-men racing runabouts compete in this sport, going five times around a one-mile course. Across the starting line a wire is stretched and to it cords with sinkers tied to the ends are fastened. The inflated balloons are suspended from the lead-tipped cords just over the heads of the racing crews. The boats start in the manner of a regular race. Each time around the course each boat crew must spear one balloon. If the spearman misses, the boat must come about and he tries again, the craft not being allowed to proceed until the balloon is punctured. The first boat to complete the five laps, breaking a balloon on each lap, wins the race, the balloons serving to make the contest an obstacle race.
.Police Use Shield and Armor Like a Medieval Knight
Breastplate and shield reminiscent of the armor worn by knights in the middle ages are carried by policemen of the Paris gas squad for protection in gun battles with desperate criminals. The bullet-resistant chest guard is hung from a strap around the neck. The left hand holds a rectangular metal shield, and a head shield fends off bullets from the upper part of the face and skull.
