Evening Star Newspaper, June 18, 1933, Page 70

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, . €, JUNE R 3o *‘ QUEER THINGS THAT INVENTORS CREAT 'A pneumatic bathing suit, which would be unsinkable when blown up by the wearer, is another new invention. HEN the first telegraph instru- ment was perfected, its in- ventor, awed by the device that enabled men to exchange ideas instantaneously over vast dis- tances, reverently tapped out as the first of all telegrams the words, “What bath God wrought!” Since that day millions of inventions have peen thrust upon an unsuspecting world; and a modern wayfarer, looking over some of the more freakish of the new devices, might be in- clined to remark, wonderingly, “What in toe heck is all of this?” For there are inventions and inventions. For every man who invents something truly useful, there are a dozen or more who invent gadgets which never will work and which wouldnt amount to much if they did work; dreamy chaps who get, Heaven knows where, dizzy ideas which they transiate into some of the oddest-looking machinery that ever graced the planct. But it is never safe to laugh too loudly, even so; for among the thousands of useless freaks there is always likely to be one humble little thingamajig which will actually do what Its inventor claims for it, and which will turn razzberries into cheers if it ever gets a chance. Not long ago the National Inventors’ Con- gress assembled in Los Angeles. 'HIS congress, with its long rows of exhibits, was a sort of paradise for the mechanically- minded. Side by side were devices ridiculous and useful; brainstorms in mechanical form, and modest little inventions whi¢ch may some day be as common as can openers; weird con- ‘raptions that looked as if they had been thrown together in a moment of absent-mind- edness, and ingenious bits of apparatus con- trived to meet long-felt wants. Exhibitors at the congress represented prac- tcally every State west of the Mississippi. Each declared his invention was a million-dollar idea. All agreed that inventive genius will lead the procession toward a new day of prosperity. One inventor, timing his display with re- markable perspicacity, exposed to the eyes of the curious an earthquake-proof brick, This man, Chandler Nott of Tujunga, Calif., bad & wooden model showing his bricks in cross-section. A wire, molded in each brick, had a twisted loop which protruded and siid into a hole in the next brick, mortar being firmly pressed about the loop. The wire in each brick also had & hook which entered & loop at the top of the brick below it. When formed into a wall, according to tbe inventor, these bricks would be anchored to- gether in such a manner as to resist all sorts of strains and stresses; and the fact ®hat following the recent California earthquake a number of brick buildings proved unexpectedly unstable, owing to the fact that a poor grade of mortar had been used to bind them together, lent an extra point to his arguments, 1] there was C. R. Miner of Los Angeles, who had a model for a lghter-than-air aluminum alloy dirigible which he said would ettain a speed of 600 miles an hour and be capable of flying either at low altitudes or up in the stratosphere, where so many inventors go for their inspiration. This dirigible, its inventor explained, would be propelled by the force of air drawn through the ship by an exhaust blower and expelled through a tunnel at the rear. Near this elaborate contrivance, a more modest but extremely thoughtful inventor haad on display a coconut grater which was guar- Earthquake-Proof Bricks,Unsinkable” Bathing Suits, New Uscs for Old Razor Blades and Many Other Odd Devices Are Of fu'v(/ in the Latest Crop. anteed not to grate the operator’s knuckles along with the coconut. Then there was an “unsinkable batbing suit” in the next booth, displayed by its inventor, A. F. Hamilton of Long Beach, Calif. This proved to be a pneumatic suit of rubber which may be blown up by the wearer to support him, or possibly her, in the water. Not to be overlooked, also, was a cormer booth which bore the sign, “At last—a real use for old razor blades!” Beneath the sign Inventor A. M. Hanavan of Oakland, Calif, displayed a strip of metal designed to hold old razor blades, the ensemble making, he ex- plained, a cutter which was “just great for peeling potatoes.” And E. J. Stevens of San Francisco had a device which he called a vest pocket sanita- rium. It looked very much like a fountain pen and was filled with a healing balsam. This, injected into the nose, was expected to cure & AT P g The “earthquake-proof” bricks invented by Chandler Nott of Tujunga, Calif. Just to prove that really useful ideas get pre- sented at such exhibits, Mrs. Margaret Lee of Long Beach exhibited a contrivance which has already been accepted by railroad men. This was & “‘claw bar,” an improved species of crow- bar for use in extracting railroad spikes, and it evidently is going to be put to work on a fairly large scale. Harry Blood of Portland, Oreg., decided that the little tees used by golfers offer a gold mine to somebody; so he devised a tee which carries advertisements, printed in small letters around the ball holder. Thus the golfer, fixing his ball for a drive, would simultaneously and in spite of himself soak up exhortations about the The zipper tent, which uses no stakes, can be put up in four minutes and has detachable sides. variety of ailments, from a tendency to snore to bad coughs and hay fever. C. E. Brooks of St. Louis, having watchea steamboats on the Mississippi River, contributed a model of “an eagle-winged, air-treading air- plane,” designed to révolutionize aviation. ‘This new plane, working on the same prin- ciple as the old Mississippi River side-wheel steamers, was, according to its inventor, des- tined to become “king of the air.” OR housewives there was a “self-basting pressure cooker,” devised by M. F. Thaw. ‘This looked not unlike an ordinary roaster, ex- cept that it was mounted on swivels and pro- vided with machinery in such a way that the whole business would turn over slowly during the process of cooking, thus basting thoroughly the meat contained within. Perhaps it should be added that it was fixed so that the cover would lock on securely. kind of suit he ought to buy or the place he ought to go for lunch, Still another inventor, C. H. Spotts of Los Angeles, reflecting on the way in which motor- ists get sleepy while making long drives, m- vented a gadget to remove the sleepiness, and, thereby, to do away with one of the hazards of long-distance motoring. This invention, known as “the O’Connor Sleep Arrester,” came in the form of a muffler which the driver would wear about his neck. At the back of the muffier is a small heat coil; the object is to supply enough heat to the nerve center at the base of the skull to nor- malize blood ciculation to the brain, thereby warding off fatigue, keeping the driver wide- awake and reasonably merry, and preventing him from going into a doze while driving. DITH FOLTZ of Portland, Oreg. imvented a flying suit for women which, by the use of a couple of zippers, could quickly be transformed into an attractive suit for street wear. Another inventor contrived a tent which, by the use of zippers, managed to get along without poles or stakes, could be erected in four minutes, and had walls that could be Model of an exhibit of a sea-going motor truck and its sperm whaletype trailer, displayed at the Inventors’ Congress and soon to follow the highways all around the country. folded back if the occupant desired to live al fresco for a while. Some thoughtful inventor offered a Wwrist watch equipped with a tiny alarm bell, which would ring in time to remind its wearer of any date he might have, or when he should say good night. Another devised a burglar alarm for the home, which would turn on all the lights and tell just where the burglar was operating. Milk Quality High E inquiry into the price of milk in the District of Columbia focuses attention upon one thing and that is that Washington has developed a milk supply the quality of which is ranked with the best in the country and which has b2en obtained through a minimum of regu- lation. . Under the law in the District, milk must test 3.5 per cent in butterfat and must come from tuberculin-tested herds. Other than that the regulations are few and far between. The high quality of the milk is due to com= petition and publicity rather than to a definite mandatory code with which the farmers and milk dealers must comply. The system is based on monthly ratings and inspections and monthly bulletins which inform the buying public how the different dairies rate, One-third of the total score given a dairy is based on the methods of handling the milk by the dairy. Onme-third is based on the content of the milk as to butterfat, solids not fat, bacterial count and other important factors and onc-third is based on the methods of the farmers supplying milk to the dairyman. In other words, two-thirds of the score a dairyman may receive is based on factors out of his hands which are all settled before the milk reaches him. It behooves the dairyman, then, to buy from the best source possible even though he is forced to pay a premium for the milk. This premium is an inducement to other farm- ers to raise the quality of their milk to equal or better than produced by thcse obtaining the bonus. Once the dairy has been definitely rated, #% is placed on a list published monthly as a bulle- tin by the Health Department. This bulletin permits any consumer to know just how the various dairies rate, and if he finds that some other dairy is rated much higher than the dairy serving him, he is likely to shift his patronage. This loss of customer would nature ally spur the dairy to renewed effort to bring its product up to the highest level. It is no unusual thing for Washington dairies to score almost 100 per cent, which ranks the milk in quality with certified milk—milk which always calls for a decided premium in price over ordnary grade A milk. The certiified milk, in= cidentally, is produced under the most exacte ing conditions of sanitation and the cost of production is far higher than the cost of pro- ducing the ordinary grade A milk of common use. May Widen Drug Act HE Department of Agriculture is seeking & revision of the Federal food and drug act which will bring comestics within the jurisdice- tion of the present law. Inclusion also of me- chanical devices which are intended to correct certain physical rather than disease conditions is to be sought, both these classes of products being classed as drugs within the meaning of the law. Another provision of the proposed new law would require the same truth in advertisements of a product covered by the law as is required on the label. The section covering this angle of the problem is not intended to set up a cen= sorship of the advertising before publication, but does provide for investigation and prosecu- tion if the advertising is found misleading or fraudulent. The responsibility would lie at the door of the advertiser and manufacturer, however, and not at the door of the advertising medium, whether it be newspaper, magazine or other medium. Wheat Surplus Grows HE recent increase in wheat prices is unex- plainable from the point of view of wheat market prospects. The carry-over on May 1 totaled 774,000,000 bushels, or nearly 50, 000,000 bushels more than a year ago. Present indications are that the carry-over on July 1 will exceed that of the record figure for July 1, 1932. Despite all the warnings throughout the wheat-growing countries of the world that pro- duction must be cut back, only Russia and the Danube basin are failing to produce as much or more wheat than last year. ‘The prospects of inflation are probably largely responsible for the rise in this country, specula= tive interests, recalling the value of commodie ties, rather than currency when speculation is under way, buying wheat for a better price.