The record-union., 1896-11-27
SOME RECENT INVENTIONS.
A Batch of Interesting Novelties Reg
istered in Washington.

A patent has just been allowed on
an air brake for street cars, operated
by storage battery underneath the
| car, which runs an electric air COM
pressor, the force being applied to the
brake rods substantially as on railroad
| cars.
new wooden frame bicycle has wires
| running through the frames and con-
| nected to a drum under the saddle.
Winding up the drum tightens the
wires and stiffens the frame by holding
the wooden braces more firmly in their
sockets.
A device for oiling trolley wheels con-
sist5 Of an oil reservoir in the fork OF
the pole, with a wick running from the
reservoir to the center of the groove In
| the wheel. The oil reaches the axle by
means of holes bored through the wheel
to the center.
A Kentucky man has invented a new
hub for bicycles in which the spokes are
attached to spring cushion instead Of
being fastened directly to the hub. An
| other device for the same purpose con-
sists of spiral spring connecting each
| spoke with the hub.
A San Francisco man has patent on
street annunciator for use i'm street
cars, consisting of q series of tablets
containing the names Of the streets
fastened to revolving drum, operated
by electricity. A bell rings as the
| name of each street appears in the in
dicator.
A new ball-bearing does away with
cups and cones by placing a number Of
| smaller balls in the space between the
large ones and the sides of the bear
| ing. Contracting the ball chamber
| tightens the bearing by pressing the
small balls against the large ones
| California man has invented a fruit
| tree limb support, which consists of a
| series OF ropes running around the
| limbs of the tree, held in place by poles
projecting from the trunk Of the tree.
| These poles are raised or lowered by
means of ropes and pulleys fastened
higher up In the tree
A new sulky potato harvester con-
s1sts OF steel scoop, which runs under
the hill of potatoes and raises 1t COM
plete. The dirt and potatoes slide from
! the scoop to series of parallel rods,
where the dirt falls through and the
potatoes drop either into a receptacle
on the sulky or in row back of it.
An Eastern man has invented a new
trolley pole, consisting of a spring
| operating drum in the end of the pole
near the trolley wheel, which winds up
| the slack In the rope as soon as the
wheel slips from the wire, which, the
other end Of the rope being fastened,
pulls the trolley down out of the way
| of supports or bridges.
! A new driving gear for bicycles con-
sists of wheel about one-half the. di-
ameter Of the back wheel, placed back
of the rear hub and held in place by an
extension of the frame This small
wheel connects with the hub of the rear
wheel, and the power is applied to it by
two levers, which reach forward in
proper position for the feet.
A New York State man has a new
device for changing the position of the
| thills on a buggy. which consists of a
sliding bar TO which the thiiis are at
tached, fastened TO the axle by thumb
screws BY loosening the screws the
/ thiils can be moved either to the right
or left. enabling the horse to walk on
one side OF the road II there is no path
| In the center.
| A. Boston man has invented an ap-
paratus for delivering mail matter at
the main office as soon as 1t is placed
in the mail boxes. Each mail box is
connected with an underground tube.
In which cable Is continuously run