Evening star., 1934-11-02

table before an ingenious boxlike
creation. 1t photographs map letter.
ings which may be cut out and pasted
engravers. 1t operates in the same
manner as the cameras which bring
Mickey Mouse to the screen. 1t speeds
up the processes Of map-making so
per cent and makes for a neatness
and uniformity in map-lettering never
before possible.
A telescope which he made from
tripod to tube. magnifying the stars
and planets up to 800 times that Of
the human eye, is the product Of a
cellar period some five or six years
ago To see whether he could. Bum
stead made his own 7-inch reflector
for the scope. Only one who has
experimental with the cutting and
polishing of glass can appreciate the
arduousness of this task.
Cellar Yields Relaxation.
"When I get through here for the
day" said Bumstead in his penthouse
office, Il feel a need for relaxation.
I 60 home to my cellar shop"
Relaxation consists of q number Of
things. it would seem.
For example, about three years ago,
while on q vacation in New Hamp-
shire, he stumbled upon the tiny shop
of q professional lapidary. The work
was too fascinating to be overlooked.
Bumstead ransacked the libraries
for q guide to direct him in his new
interest. All he could find was a
small pamphlet, written by an anna
teur. So he came home and built his
own apparatus for Transforming the
pebbles of the beach and the pretty
stones" he picked up in his jaunts
about the countryside into things Of
perfect beauty
Smoky quartz from New Hamp-
shire. lapidolite and jasper from
Maine, Amazon stone from Virginia.
moss agate frem Montana, amethyst
and simple stones from his alley, he
cut, smoothed and polished on his
complete lapidary's equipment. Both
the cabochon, rounded into oval and
hemisphere, and the brilliant, faceted
with anywhere from So to twice that
many rejecting surfaces, he turns
out with equal perfection on his
homemade corborundum wheels and
grinders.
Works Figure in Marble.
A friend sent him q paper-weight
with a bust in marble on its upper
side. Bumstead was not struck with
the figure From steel, pounded,
forged and tempered in his shop, he
turned out q set Of sculptor's tools,
like dentists instruments, on his
lathe. He altered the figure to suit
his eye.
1t was another fascination.
He experimental with Q photo
graph, copying it on q slab Of marble.
1t was not accurate enough. So he
made q prism, rigged on an extension
arm over his table, which permitted
a dual vision-of photograph and
marble slab-at the same time. Spe-
cial lighting arrangements were neces-
sary in this relief sculpture, SO that
now this portion Of his laboratory
resembles q movie studio with its
battery of bulbs and sockets. A Sc
we're blister raised on'the heel Of his
hand by pressure on the carving
tools resulted in q new type Of trans
ferable handle for them.
But Bumstead's out-of-ofiice activ-
tiles have not always been confined
to manual labors He spent the better
part of one year in his cellar lab
oratory working out set Of tables
for the computation of geographical
measurements, to determine exact
distances between points on the
earth's surface. Always this passion
for accuracy has motivated his hob
bies: Computation tables. cutting and
polishing gems, constructing the re-
flector for his telescope. He explains
it as a sort Of personal competition"
with others whose work he has known.
Creations Began Early.
Before 1908 Bumstead was with the
United States Geological Survey Di-
vision as topographer, both in the
Washington offices and in the field.
While there he emerged at various
times, after working in his cellar, with
o tripod top device, an instrument for
making map projections, and several
other objects still used by that de-
partment.
After he left the survey he spent
nine years as q farmer in the Massa-
chusetts hills and added surveying
as o side-line. In connection with
this work he invented speedometer
which could be attached to gigs and
carriages to measure the mileage of
Q given terrain. This speedometer
replaced the rag on the wheel rim"