WHIMSICAL INVENTIONS.
Ib is not so very long since a worthy magistrate was suspected of being in league with the powers of darkness owing to a whimsical contrivance of his. He had a huge water barometer erected in his house. Ib mainly consisted of a long tube containing tho figure of a man. This column of water settled to tho proper altitude, and loft the litt'o figure floating on its surface ; but, a'l the lower parb of tho tube being concealed, the weather niannikin made its appearance only whon raised up iobo view in fine weitbor, which greatly astonished and mystified his less scientific neighbours. Bub a more curious piece of mochanisin than tbo foregoing was tho figure of a man constructed of 700 pieces of steel. ftJosb of the o were eithor springs or slides, and wero so arranged as to be capable of a graduated moremenb by moans of which tho proporbions of the whole figure might bo oxpanded horn the standard size of a human being to those of a giant. This elaborabe piece of mechanism was intended to be used for the various measurements of army tai'ora, as ib would serve for the figures of men of various sizes. Bub ib is doubtful if ib provod much of a rival to the ordinary wooden dummies and lay figure?. Many marvels of ingenuity, whims:c\l and otherwise, have beao made by prisoners and others during enforced periods of protracted leisure. An English carpenter, when a prisoner of war, havl q collected various materials for his purpose, made of wood, wire, paste, and paper, an imago of a saint with such arb and exce'lence thab in strange motion, variety o! geasture, nimbl & neBB of joints, comeliness, and proportion, ib surpassed all thab before had been seen, being capable of aloiosb every human movemeub and expressioo. Anobber ingenious prisoner — a German — is uaid to have constructed a watch about there inches in diameter with no other materials or tools bhan two needles, a spool of thread, a newspaper, and soaie rye straw. Tho wheels, posts, and cogs were a 1 made of rye Btraw. It ran six hours with" out winding, and kepb good time. Thab was a marvellous clock recently made by a pauper in Liverpool. The man had formerly beon a watchmaker. and he made bhia curious clock out of pins, buttons, p'eces of bedstead, and obher odds and ends. The back and front of the clock were made from the ends of iron bed-lathp, while tho barrel was parb of a large brass ferrule, the ends] being brass butbona hammered out. The cog 3 were made of boob rivets and pieces of knitting needles. This curious conbrivance was on exhibition, and obtained a sum of money for the owner wh eh made him independent of charitable institutions. When repeating watches wore unknown a scientific gentlemen constructed a strange chronometer, with a dial, the figures of which were hollow. In these hollow figures be placed variously flavored sweetmeats, so that when he wished to know the hour of tho nighb he felb wibh bis finger tho position of the hand, and ascertained the hour by the taate of the sweetmeats, Mutton Lt is sometimes considered a cook's perquisite, bub who would ever think of utilising such Htuff for art manufacture? Yet a lover of novelty once made a kind of wax figure out of no other material than a mixture of mubton fab and lard. Whab effect the heab of a room would have on such an ornamenb is nob otabed by the in« ventor. Reference to a cook and mubton fab brings to mind the extraordinary roasbiDg fpit 1 , belonging to a wealthy noble* man, which was considered the most singular in the world. This spit turned 130 different roasts ab once and played twenty-four tunes, and whatever ib played corresponded to a certain kind of cooking which was perfectly understood by the chef. Ib would be difficult, perhapp, to carry further the love of music aod gormandising. There are still mora cranky inventors. In America, for instance, there was a recenb patent for the application of stilts to a horse. By fastening two of them to the legs on the same Bide of the animal ib can comfortably drag a plough on the side of a sbeep bill Another genius proposes to sink boilers so deep in the earth thab the water in them, through bbc increased temperature at such a depth, will be converted into steam without rhe assis tance of furnaces. You have only to sink your boilers three miles. From boilers to engines is bub a atop. The originator of such an idea would probably approve of the invon> tion of a carnage which supplies its own railway, laying ib down aa ib advances, and taking ib up after the wheels bave passed over. Bub wbeie ■wou d the inventor of such a thing alwaysgetlevel ground for his purposo 1 ? —Exchange.
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North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8162, 17 April 1895, Page 4
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828WHIMSICAL INVENTIONS. North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8162, 17 April 1895, Page 4
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