GENERAL ITEMS.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 684, 15 November 1921, Page 6

GENERAL ITEMS.

CONCRETE TIES. Elastic Concrete ties of great strength, holding nails and bolts better than wood, are claimed as''a new German railway product. Ties of iron and steel have been used to some ex-, tent for many years, but are much* more rigid than wood and otherwise less satisfactory, and the reinforced concrete ties hitherto tried have proved disappointing. The new concrete is made from a mixture of asbestos fibres and cement.

THE NAVIGATION OF CANALS

A public demonstration of aerial propulsion for barges on canals and shallow waters has been made on the Surrey Canal. The new device will be welcomed in many parts of the Empire where there are large tracts of shallow waters on which the present systems of mechanical propulsion cannot be used. The plant that was tested possesses some interesting features, notably, an arrangement for lowering the propeller when passing under low bridges and tunnels.

REALISTIC ARMY TARGETS

Targets of various kinds mounted on trucks and drawn over the field by cables on electricallydriven drums give German soldiers a very realistic dummy enemy for gun practice. The imitations of infantry and cavalry are simple silhouettes, and these are made to carry out various manoeuvres under perfect electric control. The infantry, for instance, march slowly at first, break into a run at the first fire, and drop automatically into the first trench with only the heads visible.

COCOA SHELLS AS FODDER.

In France a use as fodder for cattle has been found for the cocoa shells which are a by-product of the chocolate industry. The cows like it, and it is nourishing and fattening, having much the same character as wheat bran, but it is thought by some authorities to lessen the milk yield, though "not lowering—but even increasing—its fatty content. The question is to be further studied, and is of importance, as the production is not less than three to five million kilogrammes yearly.

FOIL BURGLARS BY SAFETY CHAINS FOR DOORS.

r A door fastened with the ordinary door chain, which is often relied on as an additional protection against thieves, is easily picked hy the skilful use of a big gimlet and a piecee of stout wire. A hole is bored through the door immediately above the chain, the wire, properly bent, is inserted and the button on the end of the chain is moved in the slot by twisting the wire like a key. If the slotted casting is put on obliquely, at an angle of about 45 degrees,' so that the chain must be not only slid back but raised in order to get it out of the slot, it cannot be so readily tampered with.

AUTOMATIC TICKET-SELLING

MACHINE.

An automatic ticket-selling machine recently brought out it designed particularly for motion-picture theatres and other places of amusement, where tickets of one price, or at most, two prices, are sold, duplicate machine being used in the latter case. The machine delivers from one to five at a time, and registers the sale automatically. The operator simply presses a button corresponding to the number of tickets called for, depresses a foot lever, and the tickets appear' at the top of the .machine in convenient reach of the customer, an arrangement that relieves the operator of the necessity of handling the tickets. The machine is enclosed in a small cabinet which rests on a counter, and occupies a space about 10 inches square. WHEN MAKING COMBS. The essential materials of the regular comb-maker are horn and hoofs, while tortoiseshell is often used. Horn and hoofs can now be so excellently made in imitation of tortoiseshell that the latter quite naturally it is not in such demand as it used to be. The first step in comb-making is the cutting of the horny material into segments of a fit size. After being cut in lengths a horn possessing a large diameter has to be divided again transversely. The hoofs are boiled before cutting, which renders them softer and therefore easier to cut in two. They are next conveyed to the' pressing floor, an apartment fixed up with furnaces. Rendered pliable by the action of the heat they are flattened out in the hands of the workmen and cut to shape with knives. After being inserted in stout blocks while still hot they cool in the form of a fiat plate. These plates are next taken to the stock-room, which is kept at a high temperature by means of steam or hot-air flues, with the object of drying or hardening, and- here they are trimmed to shape, while the portion that is to be toothed is cut to a straight edge. The teeth are cut by circular saws moving with inconceivable rapidity. When the teeth are tapered to a point and rounded, the finishers smooth the whole article to prevent it from catching in the_hair.