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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 3, 1914)
v 9 Inventions and Appliances Health and Sanitation TTOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION POET IE RES MADE OF CORN KERNELS. DESIRING to have a portiere a little d'fferont from the usual kind, I experimented with kernels of com and found them to be far superior to the beads or paper tubes used in making the Japanese kind. Ordinary field corn was selected and shelled and the ker nels were placed in a pan and enough boiling water was poured in to cover them. This softened the corn and pre vented worms from eating into the Kernels. Tho corn was allowed to soak for 24 hours. Too much at a time should not be prepared, as it will be come sour. The kernels are strung on No. 8 eot ton thread, as it comes double from the necdlo, and about 1 foot longer than the opening where tho portiere is to be used. Tho extra 1 foot will take care of the shrinkage. Use only sound ker nels and thread them on in one way; that is, each kernel in the same posi tion as tho previous one, using care not to push them on too hard, to cause them to split. Tho corn will shrink some in drying, and each string should, therefore, be looked over and the kernels pushed to gether. Make a loop at one end of each Btring to fit tho pole, and be sure that all strings are of the same length. They are then ready for varnishing, which is done by dipping a few at a timo in varnish warmed a little. They are then hung on a stick or old pole to drain and dry. Allow them to dry thoroughly, but not rapidly. When dry, they are bung in place on tho pole. The ends of tho threads can be trimmed even with shears, as the kernels will not slip off. Tho kernels may be dyed any color desired and designs worked in with dif ferent colors of corn, although this is not so pretty as tho plain color. The length of the strings may be varied to luit the taste. One very nice method is to make the strings quite short at the (enter of the curtain and ftcadually in creasing in length toward the sides. Earl Zander, in Popular Mechanics. TACKS IN THE HANDLE. A HAMMER and tacks are always useful about a house if both can be found at the same time, bnt quite often if the hammer is in place the tacks are missing, and whon the tacks are to be found the hammer has been misplaced. A tack hammer has re- eently been invented which is always to be found with the tacks. Just under the head of the tool there is secured to the handle a circular magazine arrange ment for holding tacks. This has a slid ing door by which the contents may be exposed, and when it is desired to dose h there is an automatic catch which holds it in place. BNAPPNG TURTLES MAKE NOVEL TEAM. WHILE NOVEL means of transpor tation often are seen employed in different parts of the world, prob ably nothing more uncommon is to be found than harnessed marine reptiles. A Wisconsin boy has the distinction of being the possessor of a team of eight mapping turtles which he hitches to a mall wagon and drives around at his pleasure. Although theso are more un nsual, if not spectacular, than actually useful as beasts of burden, they nover tholoss are capable of performing the unnatural function demanded of them. They experience no difficulty in pulling the boy and hit wagon and probably could manage a heavier load if "it were imposed. Domestication does not ehange the gait of tho turtles, however They move at their own accustomed rate, which is not exceedingly fast. IT STILL MAKES FLOUR. AN OLD DUTCH mill which was made with only an ax and a knife in 1870 still stands on the outskirts of Minnesota Lake, Minn., and grinds flour and feed for farmers in the south ern part of the state. The mill waB constructed by Gottlieb Shostag, who moved from Holland to Minnesota in the "sixties." Of course it is like the old mills of Holland in that it depends on the wind instead of the water for power. With the excep- tion of the millstones the whole struc ture, including the machinery, is of wood. All the cog wheels arc cut from native hard maple. The tower is forty-five feet high. At the ground it has a diameter of forty feet and at the top of twenty-five feet. ARMY WIRELESS OUTFIT CARRIED BY MULES. A COMPLETE wireless outfit that can be packed on the backs of two mules nnd set up quickly in any position required in military move ments has been developed by tho Signal Corps of the United States Army anil subjected to practical tests. The traus mitting and receiving instruments are can-red in a case the size and shape of an ordinary suitcase, while the poles for carrying the antennae are made in short sections that fit together like the sections of a fishing rod. The electric current is supplied by a small genera tor which is set up in the field and run by hand. With this generator supplying a current of 500 watts, the outfit is capable of transmitting messages in good weather for a distance of about 40 miles, while it can receive messages sent from a much gTeatcr distanco than this. NOVEL MOTORCYCLE SEATS SIDE BY SIDE. IN ORDER that two persons may rido upon a motorcycle, both facing the same direction and eido by side upon the frame, a novel contrivance has been manufactured by a New York concern, in which a seat is built arch shape, with spring cushions about f inches thick. The seat has three points of support on tho framcof the motor cycle, one at the seat post and two op posite rearward bearings, one on either gido of the frame. The cushions do not project above the plane of the seat post fastening. For restaurant purposes a coffee heat er has been invented which injects a jet of steam into a cup of cold coffee just before it is served, to save im pairing its aroma by keeping it at a high temperature for hours. To protect the bulb of an automobile horn an inventor has patented a metal cover, the bulb being operated by a plunger, which can be removed when a1 car haB beeu left Btanding on a street. The point of a soldering iron invent ed by an Iowan can be turned to any angle or folded inside the handle for convenience in carrying, and is hollow to serve as a solder melting pot. SHOULD EAT MORE FRUIT. 5JUMEROUS studies made of nutri 1 tive values by the office of ex periment stations have shown that dried fruits may be termed an eco nomical article of diet. Fruit products in general contain little protein, but as sources of energy7"dcrived almost en tirely from their sugar, dried fruits are decidedly cheaper than meats and com pare favorably with dairy products. They are, however, more expensive than cereals and starchy vegetables, sueh as dried beans and potatoes. Fruit Not a Luxury Under no cir cumstances should fresh and dried fruits be thought a luxury, since they supply the needed nutritive material as an in tegral part of the diet, besides adding to the attractiveness of the daily fare. If they are to bo eaten raw, brands made and marketed in a cleanly way should be obtained. The amount of dried fruit produced in the United States increased 575 per cent between 1899 and 1909. California produces more than four-fifths of the yearly output. According to a very rough estimate, each person in this country consumes on an average five or six pounds of dried fruit a year. Increased Product The value of the product rose from between four and five millions to over 21,000,000 in ten years. The average wholesale price, however, has not advanced with the in creased demand; on the contrary, it has dropped from about 5 cents to about 4 cents per pound. Dried fruits are especially useful when the supply of fresh fruits is limit ed or where storage space for fresh fruits is lacking. Besides being used alone, they may bo mixed into cakes, uuddinsrs. confectionery and other dishes. They afford nutritious and economical way of securing a variety of diet, which is often overlooked by tho housewife. FILTH IN DUST. D.UST as it shifts about the streets m its millions of particles does not have a very harmful appearance. Yet when you go to looking into the nature of it this -same dust takes on a far different aspect. What makes up dustt A little of everything is one answer, and one that comes prettv near to tho truth, espe cially that dust found about tho streets of a city. In its particles will be found finely powdered horse manure, consid erable dried sputum and in lesser quan tities tho dried and powdered offal of dogs and other domestic animals. Dust in rooms is often quite as for bidding, containing specks of abraded skin, mold spores, particles of clothing and furniture and foods. Often all the evils of street dust aro added to this mixture. If there is sickness, especially of a contagious or infectious nature, the micro-organisms of the disease will ap pear in the air unless due care is taken. In an investigation of street dust one investiciitor recently put out culture plates in various parts of .New lorn City. Those plates, each H incnes in diameter, were exposed for a period of five minutes. In Central Park, near the street, 499 bacteria were coiieciea, Union Square 214, in a large dry goods store only 199 were found, while on a street which was being swept the total reached 5,810. While these bacteria in the air are not necessarily harmful, yet heavy ac cumulations of them on fruits or foods aro liablo to prove a serious menace to health, and it is here that the danger is to be found. Thus the necessity of guarding foods from dust and street filtb. THE ART OF WALKING. THE ONE exerciso that is the most beneficial and the easiest to take is walking; bnt the trouble is there are not a great many people who know how to walk. According to a French scientist, we ought to imitate the gait of the average farmer, ne takes a Ion" Btride, leans forward, keeps the knees bent and slides, rather than strikes Mb foot on the ground, so that he leans his weight upon the whole sole of his foot rather than on the heel only. The city man and woman, on tho con trary, usually tako short steps, while the heel smartly taps the pavement be fore the rest of tbe foot. The farmer '1 method is eloser to that which nature intended. It exercises not only the muscles of the legs and feet, but also those of the trunk and abdomen, there by preventing corpulence. Deep breathing is an important aid to walking. When you breathe deeply yon throw the whole body into an erect and natural attitude which controls the muscles of the limbs and makes yon walk as nature intended. Unfortunately for women, present-day fashions interfere not only with proper walking, but with any kind of bene ficial walking. Fashion has done much to injure women, and the greatest of those offences is that swathing of body and cramping of feet which keep women from enjoying a health-giving walk. Remember, it is well to walk and bet ter to walk right. BOOKS AND BUGS. ONE EVIDENCE of the absurdity of the germ superstition may be found in the reading of public library books and second-hand volumes. The pages of these books are pawed over for generations by all sorts and condi tions of men and women, clean and un clean. In the ease of old books, some of these tomes date from before tha time of the Great Plague of London. Many library books have assuredly been read by persons suffering from ro called infectious diseases. Hands have come into intimate contact with them and hands have often been carried to the face. Surely, if disease germs are only one thousandth part as deadly as the bac teriologists would have us believe, the reading of public library books should immediately be forbidden, as a menace to the public health. Or, after each reading, the book should be thoroughly fumigated and disinfected not merely the cover, but each separate page. This would give employment to a large num ber of needy political doctors. The fact that more than one-third of each individual 's life time is spent in the bedroom is sufficient reason for building these rooms in the most pleas ant, airy and lightest parts of the dwelling house. Many poisons and impurities eomej disguised, especially ptomaine poison ing, from tainted meat and fish. The back yard is probably more im portant from the disease point of view than the front vard. Poor health is a fetter which holds I person to the trouble nearest at hand. Look at the bottom of the bottle for dirt instead of at the top for cream. The individual in good health is the comptroller of his own fate. Good food is the basis of life and health. GLASSES BY MAIL 12.00 The same kind 70a pay others four and five dollars for. By oar new method we ean nuke you the beat pair of reading glawal jro kare had. Band us your address and we will land Ton oar complete outfit for telling tho eyai and measuring- the face. They are simple, a child ean use them. Our glasses are of food quality, gold filled, warranted for tea rears. After you have used them for thirty days, If they are not satisfactory yonr money will be refunded. Writ for outfit today. ROGERS OPTICAL SCHOOL 134 Xillingsworth Avenue, Portland, Oregon. Portland Marble Works PHTLTP NEU & SONS, Props. Established 1885. Wo Carry the Best and Largest Stock of Monuments. 864-264 Fourth Street, PortUu.4, Ore, I IN THIS WORK FOR I YEARS y