SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC.
.' A PORTABLE ROTARY HANDSAW. ; : ~A patent" lias recently been secured on '& ' a portable handsaw with revolving blade. W0: This «aw ; .may be used for cutting grooves pf ' of any desired depth in places where an ordinary saw cannot be conveniently used— §!%;■■' for example, in cutting grooves in windowW0 sills for various kinds of weather strips or ' "for cutting grooves in floors at the lower ' h * end of a partition. - The saw is secured by a nut to the end of an axle which is mount- ; ed to turn in a suitable hub. Secured to , - , the hub is a guard which covers tho saw. To this guard a handle is attached. The ■ guard is adjustably mounted on a bracket |h ■ by means of bolts engaging slots therein "-and thus permit-ting the 1 saw to be set for s'" v the i desired depth of cut. As » means for revolving the saw the' inventor purposes to 1 use a small electric motor mounted on the '• device and coupled to the axle. ] if. ' —~~ " ~ A NEW INDUSTRY. ' The making of pillows and mattresses stuffed with sponges instead of feathers or '' horsehair has been commenced in Florida, .and according ( to a note in the English . - Mechanic results appear to be promising. H Sponge is said to have all the springiness i and resilience demanded of a,, material , •used for bedding, and to have certain advantages over feathers and other materials , at- present in use. It is said that, the use & » of 5 the new material results in the producIpfSpititm of pillows and mattresses which only cost two-thirds the price of those made in *' - the manner at present in vogue, and the 1 sponge is very considerably lighter even than the proverbial feather with which ■ a pillow is stuffed. . The arrival of sanity pies in England will be eagerly looked - for by those unfortunates who are always ' seeking for a promising means with which Ito woo the fickle goddess of sleep. || • 1 £\. . COMPUTING CHKESECUTTER. , A novel device for cutting cheese has l|ftl . 4 recently been invented. The device com- j C 1 prises a, simple ■ computing mechanism ii^|lilwhereby. ; it is possible to ; gauge the exact , \ ' si/o of slice that,should be cut for a certain j WM price. The cutter is journalled_ to a fixed i base on which a revolving table is mounted. , The cheese is carried on this table and is ; 1 revolved by means of a pinion engaging t c * teeth formed on the periphery of the table, fcl2-The pinion is provided with a pointer which j -a ' < moves therewith over a graduated disc and j indicates the length of the arc through | * which the cheese is turned. Different discs : p M are provided for cheeses of different price , ffi'. ' V or. weight, and these discs; can be readily. - f A v> placed on the indicator. Each disc is gradu- • 3 > ated foi five cent slices, thus for a 3-dollair t cheese.-in which there would be sixty five- , ' cent pieces, a disc would be selected which \ wouldlindicat(B»:arcs.Jof six. degrees of the fillfllftf revolving ~ table. : . Owing -to the gearing the j v. pinion would have to be turned; through ■. * oO'degrees to effect a six-degree:,movement { v<if the table, thus ensuring great accuracy, in- i flfel \ cutting the pieces to the proper size.: •] ■ ■■■ 1 . FRAUDS IN BUTTER-MAKING. I ' A pamphlet lias been issued by G. Wall y and Co., Williamson-street, Liverpool, en§§lH§| titled " Butter Manipulation," which shows , ' the rapid increase in ' the manipulation of . butter ia* order to swell the, profits. . It , j is stated that about 200,000 tons a week , SpJ'.-yi" are at present-being dealt with at a profit Slh'.V 7;of about £60,000 a month. The waterI '|f " ing of ordinary butter by mixing with hot ! brine, wliich Wgan in Wales and Ireland, has ,spread 'to all parts of the-kingdom, i fv\'r„' 'Good colonial,.butter is also taken and 'rai.ted with a proportion- of fresh-churned , »;V bui.ter, and loaded in a more or less de- * gree'r with milk, solid and fluid, giving it j i 10, to 15 per cent, increase.. • Solids and , mixed fats are .also added, with the . result i 'y tlwt in 25 per cent, of our retail shops we : • ' t 'have an article which contains less, than r ( iperlMnU i6f legitimate butter; fat. The - '4 elaborate .machinery for manipulating .the, , §||||l!| : bu!,ter ie described ■in detail in. the pam- . and the author's case is amply , ' proved for the necessity of Parliamentary , I woo the fickle goddess of of a Sale of , COMPUTING CHEESECUTTER. A novel device for cutting cheese has fi recently been invented. The device com- | prises a simple computing mechanism whereby it is possible to gauge the exact ; size of slice that should be cut for a certain j price. The cutter is journalled to a fixed i base on which a revolving table is mounted. , The cheese is carried on this table and is |i revolved bv means of a pinion engaging t if'." '* teeth formed on the periphery of the table. The pinion is provided with a pointer which j moves therewith over a graduated disc and ; m* indicates the length of the arc through j which the cheese is turned. Different discs , are provided for cheeses of different price • or weight, and these discs can be readily f placed on the indicator. Each disc is gradu- • ; • ated for five cent slices, thus for a 3-dolkur f cheese, in which there would be sixty five- t cent pieces, a disc would be selected which ( would indicate arcs of six degrees of the ;\rj' revolving table. Owing to the gearing the j . pinion would have to be turned through i oO degrees to effect a six-degree movement ( • iif the table, thus ensuring great accuracy in i cutting the pieces to the proper size. : t; FRAUDS IN BUTTER-MAKING. I ' A pamphlet has been issued by G. Wall ] (> " and Co., Williamson-street, Liverpool, en- ; titled " Butter Manipulation," which shows the rapid increase in the manipulation of butter in' order to swell the profits. It , is stated that about 200,000 tons a week _ are at present being dealt with afc a- profit of about £60,000 a month. The water- ; C). ing of. ordinary butter by mixing with hot ' brine, which began in Wales and Ireland, ', r ibas spread to all parts of the kingdom. Good colonial butter is also taken and • 5 mixed with a proportion of fresh-churned , butter, and loaded in a more or less degree with milk, solid and fluid, giving it j . 10 to 15 per cent, increase. Solids and mixed fats are .also added, with the result ! t that in 25 per cent, of our retail shops we v have an article which contains less than , 75; per cent, of legitimate butter fat. The elaborate machinery for manipulating the , butter is described in detail in the pam- . - and the author's case is amply , ■ proved for the necessity of Parliamentary , fff , ■ interference, and the passing of a Sale of , V - Butter Bill which will prevent-the sale < H, , of' water-logged butter and butter charged ( •7 ' with solidified milk and ' foreign fats, Ij fwhereby enormous profits are earned to ( the detriment of the consumer. In reply i V/i 'tola deputation from the Federation of j !f. : > 5 ' Grocers' Associations. Xord^Harrington, Pre- ( f'' 1 fiident of the Board of Agriculture, pro- ( ,li V mised to - appoint a Select Committee of 1 the House :of Commons to go thoroughly . ■V"., into the matter. ' , ' ■'-* " —— ;Vv ; ■ - THE PORT OF LIVERPOOL. •, ' . At a recant meeting of the Mersey j;Docks and Harbour Board; it was men- i pigtioned that they were proposing to make : ( P |v* a new dock at the Vittoria Wharf, Bir- < Jt£? kenhead. The dredging at , the bar and \ i'w ", >■ sea-channels was continued, and 92,000,000 i tons of sand had been removed since 1890. ] - The depth was now - 27fb ;at low-water 1 spring tides. . The probable cost of their ;■] contemplated new works would be "a little ;] over £4,000,000, and it would take seven. H •" or eight years to complete tho works; but 1 they considered the expenditure was wise M * and necessary to meet the requirements of Pdi business. ■ With regard to the controversy 'j continually going on about the position of : • 1 Liverpool among the ports of. the world, Si||i|iftfc%Robert',i Gladstone, who presided, 1 thought they might* take it as pretty well : established that Liverpool, had' the" second ; ij,.. tlaee at any rate, if not the first. Lately lie had seen some very interesting figures prepared at Washington. ; The figures ■; referred to the trade of the great ports of '■ - ' the world, and showed that the trade of London - was worth £261,000,000 u year; of Liverpool. £237,000,000, since corrected 111 to £250,000,000; New York, £221,000,000; ■; Hamburg, £196.000,000 Antwerp, l^|pS ; £147,000,000; ■- Marseilles, £85,000,000; Calcutta, , £59,000,000 ; 'Bombay. ; £51,000,000 l ';' : Singapore, ; £43,000,000; and .i • Sydney, £38,000,000. He thought that ; 'showed the position of Liverpool in the . ' world's trade to be very satisfactory. ■' ' With reference to the enormous number of passengers—emigrants and ordinary passengers —who arrived and departed from '■ Liverpool in the course of the year the V total was 274,000, of whom 37,000 were • « cabin ''passehpers. At London the to- • till ' was ' 23,000, ' including 16,000 ' cabin , passengers, and Southampton, ■-.J ' 72,000," and of these '27,000 were cabin passengers, _ . . . THE BENEFICENT NILE. Sir W. Willcocks has published a volume entitled "The Nile in 1904," in which he recalls what has been already stated, in Sir Wa Garstin's report >on the basin of the Upper - Nile, and gives : a forecast of '• ' what remains to be done, for water-storage if.; v ; ?nd flood-protection in the Soudan. ■ The tyfZ* writer has been studying these problems ft't;''- for the past 15 years, and calls the Nile j the most interesting river of the ancient {C'j'vj world, and still th© most interesting river j jfS n ! to-day. Its discharges arc even yet diffi- , 'j? cult to unravel, while it is one of the longest rivers in the world. The expenditure Mi on irrigation in the region between Cairo ; south to Assiout is expected to work won-' • ders daring the next 'decade. Messrs. v •"/ Aird are to construct a further barrage on %■, tho Nile at Esneh, in Upper Egypt. : A (' bridge is proposed over the Blue and K ' - White .Niles- at Khartoum. It is sugw . ,Rested to heighten the Assouan dam and . increase tho water supply." Then there ;i' - is-- the -- proposed Wadv Ravau reservoir sJieme ris a feeder of the Nile. •• Sir W. i; v Willcocks .!thinks that 'Lord Cromer's wise decision to ; construct the Suakin-Khar-H. toum ; : Railway ' and the -Abu Hamed and !©<.' Dongola Railway .is the charter for the - development of the Soudan. >. This first lpi >( railway - from Atbara to Port Soudan on Me the Red Sea was opened on January 27. If . Irrigation works for the production of $£ , , cotton and wheat can now go on. The soil of the Soudan is the v same as that of p V' Lower Egypt. The Blue Nile, from the • ? ■ mountains of Abyssinia," is the true parent i>/,of >the land, its deposits of muddy water having; made Egypt. The White Nile ffj®isr its farthest source. in four degrees south latitude, .near Lake Tanganyika. .The iH,.' country, already worth £275.000.000, 'I'' would ; be increased in value by £60,000,000 J s '. ' '-should these: fresh irrigation schemes take shape.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13193, 2 June 1906, Page 4 (Supplement)
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1,883SCIENCE, MECHANICAL INVENTIONS, ETC. New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13193, 2 June 1906, Page 4 (Supplement)
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