Evening star., 1940-03-16
Science Produces
Daylight for
Home illumination
= Fluorescent Tubes
Built Into Lotest
Floor Lamps
BY LAWRENCE CROLIUs.

been trying Its very best to repro
duce daylight by means Of an elec-
trio lamp. All sorts Of bulbs, lenses
and other, devices have been tried
out, but 1t seemed that none Of them
gave quite the desired effect. OBJ
viously, daylight should be the per-
feet light for reading, the selection
Of colors, and the type Of illumiua-
tion that would show you up In
your true colors In front Of the
shaving mirror.
II you frequent q new restaurant
or drugstore, you have probably
seen those tubular lamps that give
on such an amazing amount Of light.
Well, those are your new daylight
1amps-and they are really very re-
markable devices. They operate In
somewhat the same way that the
well-known neon sign functions ex-
cept that they have another kind of
gas inside and give OF much more
light.
For instance, one Of the larger
and brighter tubes is rated at only
40 watts and you know the relatively
small amount Of light you get out
Of an ordinary Mazda bulb of that
size. This pickup in brightness is
obtained by coating the inside of
the tubes with a new fiuorescent
material which is activated by the
electrified gas inside. They give
OH lot of light in a very emcient
manner and consequently cost very
little to operate.
Have Their Place.
We realize that the average Co.
1onial house or small apartment
Isn't q very good place for mod
erne" lighting from a decorators
viewpoint, but we thought you might
like to know about these lamps in
case you were interested in provid-
Ing the bathroom with the last word
In lighting or were fixing up a new
CAMERON.
1t is now possible to get these
fluorescent tubes mounted in an at
tractive floor lamp if you want to
bring daylight into the living room.
Under the white bowl of the regular
high-power diffusion type of floor
lamp that throws beaQ up on
the ceiling are located two of these
tubes, mounted horizontally so that
you can't see them from the side,
The slight additional equipment re-
quired to operate the tubes is also
included. BY using such lamp for
Knitting and other close work. it
should relieve eyestrain consider
ably and in case you are playing
cards the true daylight will bring
out the red heats and black spades
with great clarity.
+ X X X
Every day something new seems
to turn up to make life q little
easier to live. No longer is it neces-
sary TOR people out beyond the gas
mains to struggle with wood or coal
nres IN their kitchen stoves because
all sorts Of new contrivances have
been brought out which enable YOU
to burn kerosene, bottled gas. and
only . few years ago, pentane gas.
BY means Of q relatively mex
pensive home gas-making plant YOU
can provide yourself with q high
efficiency gas for use not only in
the kitchen stove, but in a gas hot
water heater, refrigerator or ra-
diant heater for the living room.
Because Of the high heat content
OF the gas produced and the low
cost OF the pentane fuel, you can
enjoy the convenience of gas "at
your finger tips" with excellent
economy. we are advised by the
manufacturers.
Mixer Tank Out Of Doors.
This gas-making plant consists of
. unit which is placed down in the
basement and is connected to a fuel
storage tank and mixer tank, which
are buried out in the back yard.
The fuel tank holds 10 gallons.
enough for filling the requirements
OF an average family for four to six
months. Air and fuel are mixed
inside the mixer tank producing
gas. This gas is then sent through
the house piping to stoves, refriger-
ators and heaters by the basement
unit, which supplies air at only 1
ounces Of pressure.
We are told that the electricity
used to supply this pressure Is al
most negligible because a small elec-
tric motor runs only g seconds to
MI the air supply tank and make
1t deliver the required ounces OF
pressure. This pumping operation
will maintain the pressure for about
20 minutes before the motor is turned
on again, hence the slight amount
Of current used.
If you would like to know the
names Of the manufacturers of the
products described In this column
send a stamped, self addressed en-
velope to Lawrence Crolius, 81 East
sixty-seventh street, New York,
N. Y.