Big Dealings on California Beach as Beauties Use Mammoth Cards

MAMMOTH playing cards suitable for outdoor use have recently become the fad with society beauties on the California beaches. The photo shows a poker game in progress with paper plates used as chips. The cards are waterproof and very durable, and while a trifle too large for convenience have proved popular with those seeking something new in the way of amusements. A lapful is dealt to each player instead of a hand.

UNCLE SAM GETS GIGANTIC CAMERA

Big enough for an eight-year-old child to walk through, a camera that can use any plate from four by five inches to four by four feet, has been designed for the U. S. Geological Survey. It is suspended from an overhead track twenty-five feet long and four feet wide. This suspension prevents vibrations from the ground or building interfering with the apparatus. Read the rest of this entry »

World’s Largest Binoculars

A HUGE pair of binoculars, pictured below, believed to be the largest in the world, were placed on exhibit at the optical congress at Northampton Polytechnic, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Largest Dial Thermometer Built

THE world’s largest dial thermometer has recently been installed at Atlantic City. The diameter of the dial is 22 feet; the pointer measures 9-1/2′. The control element is a small helix of bronze tubing filled with a liquid which expands or contracts with each change in temperature.

BOOKS in Postage Stamp and billboard Sizes!

WHETHER you want a book that you can carry around in a thimble, or one which requires a truck to move about, you can find what you are looking for in the great libraries of the world. The pictures on this page show some of the Davids and Goliaths of the book world.

Taller than an average man, this huge atlas is more than 400 years old, dating from the 16th century. It is housed in the University of Rostock, Germany. The man in the picture is studying a map of the world as it was known to scholars of the middle ages. Note the hinges for clasping the book shut when not in use. Read the rest of this entry »

Bureau-Shaped Building Houses Bureau of Information
AS a novel means of advertising their town’s chief industry, the manufacture of furniture, the local Chamber of Commerce of High Point, N.C, has erected a building resembling a huge bureau to house its headquarters. The novelty of the structure lies in the sign on the mirror, for the building is actually a bureau—a bureau of information. This unique building was erected by popular subscription and is located in the heart of the town.

The World’s Largest Saxophone
THERE is plenty of music in this horn. Standing six feet, seven inches in height, this saxophone is believed to be the largest in the world. In spite of its height it may be played from a sitting position—provided the musician is sufficiently expert.

Giant Chronograph
watch was built at the Western Pennsylvania Horological Institute to teach students how to repair this type of timepiece. It’s 23 inches in diameter and the entire movement weighs about 60 pounds. The difference between this model and its tiny counterpart is that the big watch has its transparent face on the back.

Ski Boot Weighs 1,200 Pounds

A GARGANTUAN ski boot, size 371, took six weeks to make and is an oversize duplicate of the type worn at fashionable winter sports resorts in the United States and on the Continent.

Built for exhibition purposes, the boot measures 13 feet in length and has six eyelets, eight hooks and the laces are of mountain rope. The heel is 35 inches wide and 40 inches long. The entire boot weighs 1,200 pounds.

Ancient Pirate Gun Is Reclaimed from Sea

Weighing 150 pounds and resembling a cannon more than a firearm, a huge, brass-barreled, portable field piece has been recovered from the sea, where a pirate lost it, and added to a collection of ancient guns in Pasadena, Calif. The gun was one of those used by the pirate, Hippolyte de Bouchard, when he and 400 followers sacked Monterey in 1818. In returning to their ship, the men lost this gun when a small boat overturned. In later years it was recovered by fishermen who saw it on the ocean floor at low tide. Another firearm almost as remarkable is a gun with a very long barrel used by Spanish settlers in hunting. They believed that the longer the barrel, the further the ball would carry, and so used long-barreled guns to kill game at long range. The long gun has an over-all length of about ten feet.

Largest Golf Club Weighs 100 Lbs.

THE world’s largest golf club, with a head 36 inches long, and other dimensions in proportion, is being used at opening ceremonies for various golf tournaments in California.

Three players perched on a step ladder are needed to drive off the 13 inch diameter golf ball atop its gigantic tee.

Science Helps Carve Giant Faces on Mountain

Huge models in studio are used in carving giant faces on Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota’s Black Hills. One inch on the models represents one foot on the mountainside. The models aid in making measurements and taking readings.
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