The Idaho scimitar. [volume] (Boise, Idaho) 1907-1908, 1907-11-23
THE IDAHO SCIMITAR.

to meet weather conditions broken wires generally
result. The man who will remedy this trouble in
practical way can occupy Fifth mansion
for the balance of his life. The railroads well
as the farmers are waiting for him to appear.
The puncture-proof automobile and bicycle tire is
another needed thing The invention of this will
not only be highly profitable, but it will earn the
encomium of generations unborn In keeping with
the strange rule of the universe which DEGREES that
there shall be no honey without singing bee it
seems impossible to get easy-ridng tire which
not be punctured The more yielding resilient
tire becomes, the more easily it is punctured. And
the remote makes the possibility of pune
ture, the less smoothly the tire will carry him. The
who can give the waiting world these two things
in the highest degree in the same tire can certainly
his figure for it.
The street car companies of many cities are look
ing for an invention which will cut down the
pense of keeping the paving along their tracks in
order. The vibration of the track when
passes over it does not nure the adjoining paving
any appreciate extent, but the endless passing OF
cars, day in and day out like the erosion of the
waves of the sea, finally has its effect and the paw
ing must be renewed every few years. Some car
companies have put brick next to the rails to
the asphalt tnd other paving materials, but even
this does not remedy the trouble What is wanted
is material which will, in a practical way, deaden
the vibration caused by the passing cars, that the
adjoining paving may not be injured.
Railroads are always looking for inventions that
will add to the safety and efficiency of their service
Just now the thing they want most is traction
ncreaser." AS chain is stronger than the
weakest of its links, railroad engine cannot
haul heavier load than it start or pull up the
heaviest grade on its run. This is determined by
the weight on the driving wheels. The strength
of the engine increases as the weight the drivers
increases. 1t is impracticabe to keep the whole
weight of the engine on the drivers at all times
an engine without any pony trucks would be about
like ship without rudder Therefore, what the
engine builders and the railroads want is
rangement that will permit, when occasion demands,
the shifting of practically the entire weight of the
engine on the drivers There have been numerous
inventions of this kind but none of them have ever
''made good"
Another invention that will add much to human
safety is a practical ire-damp detector which will
discover the presence Of fre-damp before enough
of it has accumulated to become dangerous There
are ten thousand or lives lost annually III the
world by explosions in mines caused by fre-damp.
In Germany they have been working an inven-
ton which promises to fill the bill It is believed that
it will discover ire-damp when it is present IN the
slightest possible degree The instruments are of the
most delicate workmanship. Akin to this invention
is the one now being perfected which will register
in the hotel office the presence of gas in the rooms
of guests This is intended a safeguard for men
who blow out the gas and as protection from eaky
jets.