The American Road Congress, Preserving Fresh Flowers and more


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MANUFACTURERS of road materials and machinery will have an opportunity to display their models before the very men they are most desirous of reaching at the American Road Congress, which is to be held on the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, September' 30th to October 5th. All the leading highway engineers of the States, counties, and cities have sent word that they will participate in the congress, and many of the States are making arrangements to have special booths at which full information may be obtained as to the development' and the needs of each State. It's Rough Usage--Not Mileage i-that wears out your car-1 MANY a car that should be good for 60,000 or 70,000 miles under ordinary conditions, shakes itself to pieces in from 7 to 10,000, simply because it lacks a device to help the springs check the vibration caused by rough riding. There is just one device that absorbs the shocks of rough roads without loss of resiliency on smooth roads;--that cuts down repair bills and adds years of mileage to the car without sacrificing the tires. That device is the simple and inexpensive GABRIEL REBOUND SNUBBERS "Stop the Jar-Save the Car"' Can be attached in a few minutes by anyone, without marring or disfiguring the car. There is no noise, no rattle. They require no adjustment. Will outlast the car. More Comfort in Riding-- More Mileage for the Car. As the wheels strike uneven places in the road, the springs compress naturally, without any interference to that free action so essential to easy-riding comfort. Any device that checks the downward movement of the springs, places just that much extra strain on the tires. Then, as the springs start to fly back, the Snubbers check the rebound down to a smooth steady upward movement. No vibration to mechanism, no bouncing of occupants into the air, no spring breakage. Thousands of American and foreign cars are using them with splendid results. No matter whether your car is a Ford or a six-cylinder limousine, they will repay their cost many times over. TX7RITE US TODAY giving name and model of your car and we will mail booklet telling how you can add years to your car's life, with a very little care and cost. We quote prices and fill orders direct where not already represented. Satisfaction guaranteed or moneg reftnded. Write us today. W\IJ A 17D C Get In touch with the enormous sales possibilities of Gabriel Rebound D^^^^EKS Snubbers. Every motorist is a prospective buyer. Some good territory still open. If you are a live one write us. Gabriel Horn Mfg. Co., 1409 East 40th St., Cleveland, Ohio Maktn offfte famous GABRIEL lIusfcoi Hot----dAuto Accessories ' ft How to Make a 100-Mile Wireless Telegraph Outfit In the following SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENTS, the well-known wireless telegraph expert. Mr. A. Frederick Collins, describes clearly and simply, without the aid of mathematics, the construction of a I OO-mile wireless telegraph outfit. description. The design and construction of a 100-mile wireless telegraph set is described in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT 1605. The location and erection of a 100-wile wireless telegraph station is described in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT 1622. In SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT 1623. the installation and adjustment of a 100-mile wireless telegraph station is fully explained. Complete di Irawings accompany his The adjustment and tuning of a 100-mile wireless telegraph outfit is discussed in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT 1624. The theory and action of a 100-mile wireless telegraph outfit is explained in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT 1625. The management and operation of ship and shore stations is dearly set forth in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT 1628. These six articles constitute a splendid treatise. profusely illustrated. on the construction, operation and theory of wireless telegraph instruments. The set will be mailed to any address for 60 cents, single copies I 0 cts. each. The Construction of a 1000-Mile Wireless Telegraph Station A series of articles in which the author, Edward H. Guilford, endeavors to describe the complete construction of such a station, at the same time setting forth the functions of the various instruments. The text is accompanied by numerous illustrations of operations. The numbers are 1803, 1814, 1815 and 1816; price 40 cts. for the set, single copies 1 0 cts. each, mailed. The two series of papers (ten numbers) costs 1.00, and they are worth many times the amount to any one interested in wireless telegraphy. Send for a New 1910 Supplement Catalogue FREE to any addreal Order from your newsdealer, or from MUNN It CO., Inc., 361 Broadway, New York City 126 August 10, 1912 SENTINEL Gas Soldering Iron Heaters By reason of their well-known economy in use of gas and correct application of heat are the best means of heating soldering irons in the shop. Three Types Atmospheric Booster Blast" ADVANTAGES OF GASOLINE ENGINES As compared with steam power for units of moderate size. internal combustion engines have many advantages. Being more compact and simple. they are more easy to manage. Speed regulation is brought to a fine point in several types of I H C Gasoline Engines which run at a variation of less than 2 per cent under all loads up to the maximum. When to these points are added the greater -economy of the gasoline engine. the smaller amount of attention needed. the total shuttin.! off of expense when the engine is stopped. the I H C gasoline engine is entitled to consideration when installing a power plant of anywhere up to SO-horse power. Full information about I H C gasolim-engines is contained in our (jo-pa^e catalogue, which illustrates all the various styles -- horizontal and vertical, air and watei-cooled, stationary and portable. A post card brings it. International Harvester Company of America (lncorpomted) 15 Harvester Building Chicago. USA GREDAG Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. is the only grease that contains Pure Acheson-Graphite. This superior graphite is made in the Electric Furnace and is the Only Gritless Graphite. Applied to gears Gredag builds a film that will not break down when full power is suddenly applied. The teeth will ^gfist&s,. silently engage in mesh and the car will run ^S^saBJ^K quietly and sweetly. Send your address for C^"^"XvIV Folder L - 462. International Acheson Graphite Co. Niagara Falls, N. Y. General Agents for 0ildag,7nade by Acheson Oildag Company Water in Quantity all over your farm--house, field I or bars--pumped without cost or | trouble for you by an automatic Rife ---~- Ram. RaiseB ^water 30 feet for each foot of fall i \--no trouble or pumping expense. i i Satisfaction guaranteed. Booklet, 1 i plans, estimate, FREE. | B1FE ENGINE CO., 2533 Trinity Bldg. NY. Nulite Portable Parlor Lamp The cheapest, best and most beautiful light obtainable for town or country. Makes and bums its own gas ; 300 C. P. 5 hours for I cent. Can bo used anywhere with amazing results. Low in price. Thoroughly reliable. Many new and exclusive features. Best proposition of the year for agents. Write today for full details. . NATIONAL STAMPING&ELECTRIC WORKS 412 S. Clinton Street. Chicago DURYEA MOTOR BUGGIES Get right down to business. They are stylish; they are fast enough, and they don 'I make trouble. C. S. DURYEA MOTOR CO., Saginaw, Michigan If Mercury and Air Didn't Go Up Fountain Pens Wouldn't Leak'4 WHEN mercury in a thermometer gets warm it goes up. When air in a fountain pen gets warm in your pocket it goes up too--up the feed tube. Now, this going up habit of air is what makes all the ink-smearing trouble. It happens like this: When you set an ordinary fountain pen in your pocket, point up, some lazy ink stays up in the feed tube--won't all run down. Up goes the heated air through the inky feed tube, pushing the lazy ink up and out, all over the writing end of the pen. Now, George S. Parker, of Janes-ville , Wisconsin,said: I'llget all the ink down out before the heated air goes up." So he invented a curved feed tube. which bends and touches the barrel wall. This touch sucks all ink out of the feed tube and drops it in the reservoir below the instant you set a Parker Pen in your pocket. That is what makes it impossible for air to force ink out on the writing end of a Parker Pen. The curvedfeed tube is called the Lucky Curve, and that queer force, Capillary Attraction which makes a sugar lump suck coffee, is what sucks the ink out of the Lucky Curve. Parker Pens - write smooth as glass, for theiitk gold pens arepointed with hardest Iridium. And tlie Parker Spear Head Ink Controller never allows any blotting or skipping. Standard Styla- Parker Lucky Curve Fountain PensfSOO to 250.00, according to size and ornamentation. New Parker Jack Knife Safety Pen won't leak, in any position. Garry it upside down in pocket of your white vest. Pen knife size for lady's purse. Prices 2.50 up. New Parker Disappearing Clip grips like a snapping turtle, but slides back into its shell when you want to write. Dealers sell Parkers on 10 days trial. If unsatisfactory your money quickly refunded. If your dealer doesn't keep Parkers. send us his name. We'll send you catalog and fill your order direct. Do it today. PARKER PEN COMPANY 85 Mil Street, Juenille, Wisconsin New York Retail Store 11 Park Bow Opposite Post Office typewriters: Incorporate Laws the most liberal. Expense the least. Hold meetings, transact business anywhere. Blanks, By-laws, and forms for making stock full-paid for cash, property or services, free. President Stoddard, FORMER SECRETARY OF ARIZONA, resident agent for many thousand companies. Reference: Any bank in Arizona. STODDARD INCORPORATING COMPANY, Box8000 PHOENIX. ARIZONA SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN HANDBOOK OF TRAVEL With Hints for the Ocean Voyage for European Tours and a Practical Guide to London and Paris By ALBERT A. HOPKINS, Editor of Scientific American Reference Book #TT At last the ideal guide, the result of twenty years of study ^jj and travel, is completed. It is endorsed by every steamship and railroad company in Europe. To those who are not planning a trip it is equally informing. Send for illustrated circular containing one . hundred questions out. of 2,500 this book will answer. It is mailed free and will give some kind of an idea of the contents of this unique book, which should be in the hands of all readers of the Scientific A merican as it tells you exactly what you have wanted to know about a trip abroad. 500 pages, 500 illustrations, flexible cover, 2.00---fall leather, 2.50 postpaid MUNN&CO., Inc., PaMtshers, 361 Broadway, New York City Every type of road will receive thorough attention in the papers, and discussions beginning with the humble oarth road and going through all the standard forms of construction, including the modern bituminous roads, brick roads, concrete roads, and all the forms of construction that are now in use. Contractors who attend the congress will have an opportunity to see the exhibits of all manufacturers with whom they wish to do business, and to mingle with the public officials to whom they will look for contracts. They will hear some practical papers read by prominent con tractors. The Government exhibit, according to an announcement just made by Hon. Logan Waller Page, director of the United States Office of Public Roads and active president of the American Road Congress, will have a complete exhibit on the Million Dollar Pier, which will contain models of all the various types of roads. The highway departments of all the States in the union will be represented at the Congress, and there will be a comparative analysis of the contract and force account system in road construction. Papers will also be read on the relation of the contractor to the public official. The site chosen for the American. Road Congress, which marks the consolidation of the convention interests of the American Association for Highway Improvement, with all its allied organizations; the American Automobile Association, with all its affiliated clubs and associations; and the National Association of Machinery and Material Manufacturers, will undoubtedly make a special appeal to the more than 100,000 officials employed throughout the country in supervising construction or maintenance of public highways. Many have written to the headquarters of the American Road Congress in the Colorado Building at Washington, to say that they intend to combine business with vacation by spending the week beginning September 30th at the sessions of the coii-gress. Automobile tours are being arranged by the American Automobile Association from all sections of the country, and many of the legislators and other officials of the various States intend to be present. The principal addresses will be made by President Taft and Gov. Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey. IN order to keep cut flowers from withering, the water which they lose by evaporation must be replaced. Hence the stems are placed in water, the absorption of which may be facilitated by cutting the end of the stem to a wedge shape and thus increasing the absorbent surface. The same effects are produced to a still greater degree by crushing with a hammer an inch or more of the stem. After a time the wound becomes covered with products of decomposition, due to the presence of bacteria, which impede the absorption of water, especially if the air of the room is warm and the section is not sharply cut. It then becomes necessary to cut off the diseased part of the stem in order to lay bare the mouths of the capillary vessels. According to La Nature, the life of cut flowers can be prolonged somewhat by substituting distilled water for river water. Hot water also gives good results, especially with fleshy plants like hyacinth and narcissus. When the flowers, kept in ordinary water, begin to fade, the bottom third of the stalk is immersed in very hot water. As the water cools the flowers resume their natural degree of stiffness. Before they are replaced in fresh water the portion which has been immersed in hot water should be cut off. Various antiseptics are sometimes added to the water in which flowers are kept. The addition of a few pieces of wood charcoal retards putrefaction, but it is still necessary to change too water every five or six days. Soap is employed as a preservative in the following manner: The flowers are first sprinkled lightly with fresh water Interesting Books The Scientific American Boy By A RUSSELL BOND. 12 mo., 317 pages, 340 it-lustrations. Price. 2.00. Q This is a fascinating story of outdoor boy life, ..1 contains a large number of practical suggestions which, in addition to affording amusement, will stimulate in boys thecreative spirit. In each instance complete practical instructions are given for building the various articles. The boy camper is supplied with directions for ma kins tramping outfits, sleeping bags, tents, tree houses. straw ,hu , log cabins and caves. Winter diversions include instructions for making skate saiisi snow shoes, ice boats, scooters, sledges. toboggans, etc. The more instructive subjects covered are surveying, wigwagging, hefiographing and bridge building. Miscellaneous devices, such as scows, canoes, land yachts, windmills, water wheels and the like are also described. It is attractively illustrated with half tones from life and numerous diagrams and engravings drawn to Kale. The Scientific American Boy at Schoo pages, By A. RUSSELL BOND, 12 illustrations. Price.. 2.00. 338 314 This is a sequel. to The Scientific American Boy and like its predecessor is brim full of practical suggestions, all of which are entirely new. The construction of the apparatus, which is within the scope of the average boy, is fully described and the instructions are interwoven in a fascinating story. which makes the book interesting as well as instructive to the boy. This volume contains instructions on surveying, sounding and signal. ling, the building of dams, canals and canal locks, truss bridges and several different types of boats. Sun dials, clepsydras, seismographs, gliding machines, kite photography and camera hunting are a few of the other interesting subjects taken up. Other uniaue ideas are water kites, fish-tail boat-propellers, bicycle ^ep^ geyser fountains, etc. No boy of a mechanical tum of mind can read the story without being inspired to try his hand at making the devices. Magic, Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography Compiled and Edited by ALBERT A. HOPKINS. Large octavo, 556 pages, 400 illustrations. Price, 2.50. 4J This work appeals to old and young alike, and is acknowledged by the profession to be the standard works on magic. The illusions are all explained in detail, which show exactly how the tricks are performed. Great attention is paidpaid to the exposes of large and important illusions, which in many cases have ben furnished by the prestidigitateurs themselves. Some of the moot important tricks of Robert Houden, Bautier de Kolta, Heller and Hermann are explained. Conjuring tricks have not been neglected, a selection or some of the best of them having been made--fife-eaten, sword-swallowers, ventriloquist., shadowgraphis --all come in for a share of attention, while mental magic. ancient magic, trick photography, automata, curious toys and stage effects are well described and illustrated. The New Agriculture By T. BYARD COLUNS, 106 illustrations. Price, 2.00 12 mo.. 374 Q This interesting volume is a popular outline of the many changes which are revolutionizing the methods of farming and the habits of farm life. ( It deals with the subject in a scientific way and form a new viewpoint. The, author has devoted his lifetime to the study of changing economic agricultural conditions. Irrigation. the new fertilization. the new transportation, the new creations, the new machinery, all come in for a share of attention. The iUU1trations are of special value, and are unique. All who are interested in agriculture should obtain a copy of this moot timely addition to the literature of agriculture. The Fourth Dimension Simply Explained With an Introduction and Editorial Notes by PROF. HENRY P. MANNING. 12 mo, 251 pages, illustrated. Price, 1.50 q A friend of the Scientific American donated a prize of 500 for the best simply -worded non-mathematical explanatition of the fourth dimension. The prize ewy, together with the three others, which were accorded honorable mention, were published in the columns of the Scientific American. As a result, so much interest was aroused on the subject of the fourth dimension, that it seemed advisable to collect, in permanent form, the more meritorious of the 245 essays which were sent in from all parte of the world. The present work presents twenty points of view. all of them interesting and no two quite alike. ^ The reading of one essay does not involve the reading of the entire work, yet the entire book gives a comprehensive vie", of what the layman wishes to know about the fourth dimension. The American Steel Worker By E. R. MARKHAM. lustrations. Price, 2.50. 12 mo., 369 pages, 163 il- q This is a standard work by an acknowledged authority on selecting, annealing, hardening and tempering all grades of steel. The author has had twenty-five years practical experience in steel working, during which time hehas collected much of the material for this book. Careful instructions are Riven for every detail of every tool. Among the subjects treated are. the selection of steel to meet various requirements; how to tell steel when you see it; reasons for different steels: how to treat steel in the making of small tools, taps, reamers(>drills, milling cutters; hardening and tempering dies; pack hardening; case hardoring; aniiealing; neat-ipg apparatus; mixtures and baths, the best kind, and wily; and in fact everything that a steel worker would want to know is contained in this book. A ny of these books wiZ be sent, postpaid, on receipt of - advertised price. fi descriptive circularfur-nisAed on application. MUNN&CO. IncPirsAers 361 Broadway New York City and are then placed In a vessel containing soapy water. Every morning they are taken out and completely immersed in pure water for two minutes. They are then sprinkled again and their stems are replaced in the soapy water, which should be changed every three days. It is asserted that flowers can be kept at least a month in this way. In another method the washings are omitted but the soapy water is changed daily. The solution is prepared, in quantity, by dissolving one ounce of white soap and one tenth ounce of common salt in one quart of water, and adding a little pulverized borax. Sugar is also recommended as a preservative. The best results are obtained by dissolving in each quart of water about five ounces of sugar for pinks, three ouhces for roses and six ounces for chrysanthemums. Good results have been obtained also with sodium carbonate (washing soda) and with ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac). The last named salt, however, alters the delicate tints of some roses. In general, flowers which are to be kept long in water should be gathered early in the morning and in the state of buds about to open, and the sterns should be immersed for two thirds of their length. In order to retard evaporation. the room in which the flowers are kept should he heated and ventilated as little as possible. Evaporation can be prevented by covering the petals with a varnish made by dissolving 20 parts by weight of light ('opal, previously mixed with an equal weight of fine sand or pulverized glass, in 500 parts of ether. The flowers are dipped in this solution four or five times at intervals of ten minutes in order to allow the ether to evaporate. Flowers treated in this manner retain their freshness and beauty for a long time. Finally, the following method is generally recommended for preserving flowers, and roses in particular, for long periods. A tin box is partly filled with very fine and perfectly dry salt (dried over a fire if necessary). The buds are laid on the bed of salt so that they do not touch each other, and the box is filled with salt and > hermetically closed. If the dried buds are -taken from the salt at any time within I several months, and their sterns are cut j and placed in water, they gradually re- ' sume their original freshness and open. i A glass-stoppered jar filled with alter- J nate layers of violets and salt, and kept I at a moderate temperature, may be em- j ployed to perfume a room at any time | after two weeks, and retains its fragrance i many months, if not opened too fre- \ quently. j 1 1 The Current Supplement \ THE Supplement, No. 1910, brings a number of good articles this week. Prof. Diaz-Ossa, of the University of 1 Chili, is peculiarly qualified to speak to ' us on- the manufacture of Chili Saltpeter. --The description of a recently installed museum devoted to animal life underground will interest our biological readers. --Dr. Steiumetz, famous for his work in electricity, addresses us this time on a question relating to another field of physics, and makes some very interesting reflections on the second law of thermodynamics.--The center-page article is devoted to the remarkable operations in damming the Mississippi for power purposes.--Our metallurgical readers will be interested in an article 011 the relations of iron, vanadium and carbon in steels.--A description is given of the low temperature laboratory at Leyden, in which Prof. Kamerling Onnes carried on some of his famous work. Increasing the Visibility of Vapor.--In a patent, No. 1,031,250, Thomas A. De Vil-biss of Toledo, 0., presents a method of demonstrating perfumes or toilet waters in which he mixes with the perfume or toilet water an odorless liquid of greater consistency, specifically glycerine, than the perfume, so that the visibility of the vapor produced is enhanced and the moisture of the vapor is lessened, and then effects a nebulization of the mixture. The Car that Answers Your Every Demand Is it Price? within the income. Studebaker cars are reach of even a modest Is it Value? Studebaker cars offer more value than double the price can buy elsewhere. Equal in quality of material and workmanship to any car made. Is it Popularity? 75,00 Studebaker cars are already on the road and every owner is an' enthusiastic ''booster". Is it Appearance? Note the just pride of every Studebaker owner in the style and good looks of his car. Is' it Name ? For over sixty years the Studebaker name has been a synonym for the highest mechanical skill and integrity. Is it Simplicity? Studebaker construction is so simple that any member of the family can run a Studebaker as well as an expert. Nothing to get out of order. Is it Comfort? Long, easy riding springs, wide, deep seats, upholstering of the softest hand-buffed leather, the best curled hair over finest pillow springs, explain the luxurious comfort of the Studebaker. Is it Guarantee? The Studebaker guarantee covers you for an entire year. Any part that proves defective in that time is replaced free of charge. Is it Prompt Delivery? Our enormously increased manufacturing facilities' have now reached a point where we can promise prompt deliveries. Is it Service? Studebaker service is valid from California to Maine, and the nearest dealer is ready to make good. No writing to headquarters. No wait. No argument. ... V, The 750 Studebaker (Flanders) 20 Roadster Equipped with Top, Windshield, Prest-O-Lite Tank and Speedometer, 830 f.o.b. 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SA Supplements Vol 74 Issue 1910suppThis article was published with the title “American Road Congress” in SA Supplements Vol. 74 No. 1910supp (), p. 125
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican08101912-85supp

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