Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1901 — SOME NEW INVENTIONS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SOME NEW INVENTIONS

Co Find Lott Ship/. Finding, lost Ships at sea is a tedious piece of woik, even when the position of the vessel is partially known, and our Illustration shows a device intended to facilitate the search as much as possible. With Its aid the search can be thoroughly made over the ocean bed, either one ship or two being used for the work. If only one ship is at hand the cable is anchored at one end and the ship sweeps around the buoy above the anchor with the free end of the cable; or if two ships are in use the cable Is swept across the ocean bed in parallel lines. Near the wreck in the picture the cable is shown divided for the insertion of a reel, on which a portion of the cable is wound. The tension of the cable is not sufficient

to unwind the portion on the reel when dragging freely along, but as soon as an obstruction is met the unwinding of the cable from the reel prevents the sudden alteration of the vessel’s course until the source of the obstruction can be determined. If It Is other than the lost ship the vessels can continue in their line of search without neglecting any of the ground, as might be the case if the course was suddenly altered by the tightening of a single length of cable. Electric Farmin//. The up-to-date farmers with a large acreage finds It slow work to plow his fields with the old single plows of the past, and so he utilizes the electric current and multiplies the number of plowshares to suit himself. In the West this is practically a necessity, on account of the large size of the fields and the cost o. labor and teams. Our illustration shows a convenient form of motor plow which has been designed by an inventor in Friedrlchsburg, Germany. It consists of two electric motors operating winding drums on separate carriages, which may be placed at any required distance apart, only one motor being connccteu with the main feed wife. To supply power to the second motor a feed cable lying parallel with the traction cable is readjusted at every trip of the plow to follow the latter down the

field. The mechanism is so adjusted that when once set in motion the apparatus practically operates itself, moving the carriages forward at the beginning of each trip to bring the plowshares in position for the next row of furrows. Combined "Belt and Braces. From far-off New Zealand comes the combination shown in the illustration, that a pair of suspenders which can be quickly altered to a belt when the wearer desires to change from one to the other. The Inventors state that

-the device is particular 1 y adapted for use by athletes, cricketers, boating men and football players, and also for workingme n who use a belt while at work. Any I of these per- ] sons who prefer the - s u s p e nder

for ordinary wear and th? belt for special work will appreciate the merits of a combination which will supply both at a cost of little more than that of either article alone. A glance at the illustration shows the manner of making the change, the braces being pivoted at the back to allow alignment.

Adjustable Curtain Support. Two views are shown in the illustration of a neat curiiin support recently pat-

anted. The ordin r. r y manner of a 11 a c hln the lace cur t .in does no! permit them to be adjusted readily when it be comes nec ess ar y tc clean the window or

to push the curtains back to allow more light to enter the room. Then, too, they soon become soiled from frequent handling while being adjusted, which also tends to wear them out more rapidly. All these objections seem to be overcome by the lazy-tougs arrangement in this invention, the frame being shown in the upper portion of the cut and the mounted curtain below. The disc carrying each frame Is mounted on the verticle shank of a bracket, which is screwed to the window frame, allowing the curtain to be swung out from the window or around against the wall when desired. A pull on one of the cords concealed behind the curtain opens or closes the frame to adjust the curtain across the window or fold it back against ths side, it being unnecessary to touch the curtain with the hand to move it in either direction. JVo "Dry "Dock. Speeded. The expense of docking ships in order to remove foreign growths from the hulls is considerable, besides the

time necessary to go from a station to the dock and back again, and to remove the barnacles and other substances without the necessity of docking is the purpose of the scraping apparatus Illustrated In the cut. It has been patented by Major A. and Asa L. Stump, of Normantown, W. Va. The apparatus consists of several scrapers of the pattern shown, suspended on cables from the rail of the vessel by means of rolling hungers. Provision is made for taking up the slack of the suspension cable as the leaner# are pulled lengthwise of the hull by the main cable, which is wound up on a drum located on the deck of the vessel. The scrapers comprise heavy wooden blocks, with steel abrading b»ades at the rear, and the Inventors claim that these blades will remove the barnacles as well when the ship is afloat as can be done in dry dock, without the loss of time necessary by the latter method, the ship maintaining her course throughout the operation.

Improved Fruit Jar. This invention is intended to provide a fruit jar which can be sealed so tightly that

the danger of fermentation is reduced to a minimum and at the same time make it a c o,m para tively easy task to open

the jar when the contents are wanted. It is a woman's invention, the patent having lately been granted. The jar proper is similar to those now in use, except that it has a series of studs or projections arranged around the edge of the top, and the outer edge of the fastening ring is provided with a similar row of studs. Two wrenches of band steel, of small cost, are also provided. I Life Saving Buoy. A novel and extremely simple lifesaving device has been invented by M. George Broussel. It is a sort of automatic folding buoy, and is formed merely of two boards of wood, which are joined together in the center. In ordinary weather it can be used as a seat on board a vessel, and when there is danger of shipwreck it can be instantaneously turned into a life-saving buoy. Many experiments have already been made with it and they show that it can do effective work as well in a storm as in a calm sea.

APPARATUS FOR LOCATING SUNKEN VESSELS.

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED PLOW.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING HULLS OF VESSELS.