El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-08-14
Water All Over Montana Street:
Just Vision, Like a Mirage
An Optical pelusion on the Windshield of Jitne-
Billboards, an Aid to Watering Something About
Adobes, Little About Milk Cows and Little
Less About an Honest Man
By A
BY G. A. MARTIN.

ISlON is peculiar thing and a
" tricky thing Any warm day as
one drives down Montana street
just as he nears Lamar school on the
way 70 town he can glance down the
pavement towards the city and see
what he viii swear AZ first sight. is
water all over the pavement As he
nears the affected part OF the rave
ment. the vision disappears. There IS
nothing on the pavement hut the hot
rays Of the sun This is not only rue OF
Montana street. but OF any paved street
on hot. sunshiny day. II the eye
catches IL AZ just the right angle. This
angle Is secured near Lamar school on
the way to the city because there is 4
slight rise in the street at that point
The vision is as deceiving as the
miraEes on the desert all around FL
Paso- From the train or an suromo-
bile one can see beautiful lakes fringed
with trees and bushes and once. over
near Roswell. I saw perfect houses OF
great Vet artistic proportions. in one
of these miragcs- Other passen gers on
the train agreed that they. too could
see them One OF the most amusing
optical decisions that ] know Of. how
ever. is cut from magazine cover
and carried on the Windshield OF a
ia street lAlue driver IN an oval
are printed six black cubes three IN the
first row. two on top and one single
one on top Of the two. Lettering
around the pile OF cubes suggests that
YOU watch it closely and see them
change TO seven Suddenly they do
that very thing. apparently reversing
themselves with four cubes across the
top two below the four and one below
the two The picture is pasted fast
n the windshield and never moves.
-Four OF us sat in the car and watched
the changes the other DAY. Sometimes
We all saw the changes at the same
time. sometimes two OF US saw them
together. sometimes three or US. hut
the change never took place for any
OF us a { the same time.
Bilhoards in the country arc almost
always made Of wood wfthSta nding
that in the city of late years thew are
almost all made Of sheet iron. which
is the cheapest The reason the wooden
boards are still put up in the country
Is that boys and men will shoot AZ
them and the rifle balls ana shot have
little visible effect upon wood. while
in tin or sheet iron they would soon
mar the sign and make its replacement
necessary
Out in California they have vvav of
sprinkling lawns and flowers that
saves a great deal OF labor A man viii
take a piece Of pipe as long nc any
given section which ne wishes 10 water
then he will have il filled with EMAIL
holes. On one end he will place can.
on the other end he viii place \ con
nection for a hose This piece of nine
is then located beneath the shrubberv
where il will not he seen. and the hose
one end connected with the hvdrant
the other with the pipe. is turned on
The holes in the pipe sprinkle the
shrubbery and father can read his
paper and not have to hold the hose
For watering grass. many Angeienos |
use similar pieces OF pipe. though thew I
have them on small stands. to hold /
them up above the grass Such a /